Dunkirk's three timelines split agency unevenly. Tommy has almost none — he's carried by events, hiding, running, surviving by luck and the actions of others. Farrier has the highest agency in the film: every decision is his, from choosing targets to staying past bingo fuel to burning his plane rather than let it be captured. Dawson sits between them, choosing to sail to Dunkirk and making tactical decisions on the water. The composite agency line stays above control through the crisis because someone is always choosing — even when the evacuation is failing, Farrier is picking targets, Dawson is steering through oil. The lines converge in Act Five when the little ships transform collective agency into collective control.