Dystopian movies aren’t new. From Fritz Lang’s silent classic Metropolis (1927) to The War of the Worlds (1953), and Blade Runner (1982), they’ve long been a staple of cinema. What is new is the rise in popularity of these films and the veritable slew of them in recent years. Nightmarish futuristic visions of human misery are now regular blockbusters.

Early hours, Monday, September 4, 1939, almost exactly 75 years ago. Most Canadians are still asleep. They have no way of knowing that across the open Atlantic, 200 miles off the Hebrides west of northern Scotland, a tragedy is unfolding that will bring Canada face to face with the horror of World War II.