Lee tells the story of real-life American photographer Lee Miller, a former model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II. Academy Award winner Kate Winslet stars in the film, which follows Lee’s photojournalism career during the war.

As a feature, Lee had a lot of potential. Personally, I didn’t know much about Lee Miller prior to the film, and I was looking forward to learning about her and her work through this story.

Unfortunately, despite centering around one real-life woman, as a film Lee felt strangely unfocused. Miller’s experiences during this time should come across as singular and fascinating; there’s so many important influences impacting her career and personal life. There’s the war itself and the propaganda and public perception around it; expat culture (as the American Lee bounces between France and England); photojournalism as a profession, and war photography specifically, as well as the state of publishing news; and the challenges facing women in the workforce in this era, just to name a few.

Technically, Lee touches on all these issues. It’s the how that doesn’t quite seem to work. Any one of these influences would have made an interesting lens to explore Miller’s life and work through. But instead of choosing a focus point, the film gives viewers only the most surface-level exploration of these topics. I kept wanting to know more about these issues and how they impacted Miller, and the film just didn’t commit to any of them. Honing in on any one of these angles for a deeper exploration would have made Lee a more compelling film.

And maybe the film wouldn’t need to commit to one of these subjects if it did a better job of exploring Lee Miller herself. But for a film specifically about one real-life person, I felt like I left the movie knowing barely more about her than I did going into it. Where’s the in-depth background? The aftermath of the war and her personal life? Even Lee’s relationships and motivations for her work could use more fleshing out. Again, it feels like the film just barely touches the surface of what was undoubtedly a fascinating life.

That’s not to say there’s nothing to like about Lee. For those previously unfamiliar with Lee Miller, there’s still the introduction to a real person’s significant work. Though the “interview-style” framing of the story winds up being a little hit-or-miss, it does allow a showcase for Miller’s photography. I really enjoyed the way Miller’s real-life photographs directly inspired scenes within Lee. Similarly, the use of the photographs contributed to one of the film’s most impactful scenes, when Lee and Davey (Andy Samberg) find themselves at a recently liberated concentration camp. 

In addition, it’s hard to go wrong with a lead like Kate Winslet. With the story a bit light, much of the audience’s connection to Lee comes from Winslet’s ability to capture and convey genuine emotion in her acting. Her performance gives dimension to an otherwise too-flat characterization.

At the end of the day, I just really hoped for more from Lee. It’s simply too unfocused and surface-level to make an impact worthy of the real Lee Miller’s work.

Lee premieres in theaters September 27.