Testament of Youth is a 2014 British drama film based on the First World War memoir of the same name written by Vera Brittain.

The film stars Alicia Vikander as Vera Brittain, an independent young woman who abandoned her studies at Somerville College, Oxford, to become a war nurse.

In 1914, Vera Brittain wants to escape her traditional family in Buxton by attending Oxford University with her younger brother Edward and his friends at Uppingham School, Roland Leighton and Victor Richardson.

As long lists of casualties appear in newspapers, Vera leaves Oxford to volunteer for the Voluntary Aid Detachment as a nurse tending the wounded in a hospital in England.

Although his friends still see the war as exciting, Roland tells Vera of his traumatic experiences from trench warfare at the front.

Vera confesses her guilt over persuading her father to let Edward join the army, and tells of how she held the hand of a dying German soldier, who was no different from her brother or her fiancé.

The plot of the film broadly follows the narrative of the book, but it does deviate in two significant regards: George Catlin, who entered the army in 1918, never met Roland, who died in 1915.

In addition, Vera did not help save her brother Edward's life after he was wounded at the Somme in 1916; he was simply sent to the First London General Hospital, where she was a volunteer nurse.

[9] The BBC had already adapted the book as a five-part television serial which was transmitted on BBC2 in 1979 with Cheryl Campbell as Vera Brittain.

[7] An ensemble cast was confirmed as filming began, including Dominic West, Emily Watson, Joanna Scanlan, Hayley Atwell, Jonathan Bailey and Anna Chancellor.

[8] Principal photography began on 16 March 2014 in London, Oxford and Yorkshire, including a number of locations across the North York Moors.

The Welbeck Abbey estate in Nottinghamshire provided several locations, including the scenes at Uppingham School, Melrose House and the Étaples field hospital.

[5] The website's critics consensus reads, "Testament of Youth is well-acted and beautifully filmed, adding up to an enriching if not adventurous experience for fans of British period dramas.