I have seen every Holocaust film ever made of any note. Schindler's List is very good; as was Seven Beauties by Wertmuller. I thought Life is Beautiful was overrated. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was far superior to Life is Beautiful. Most Holocaust films are very powerful, but a few are stereotypical. After Sophie's Choice, which I thought was the most powerful of all Holocaust films, I had a tendency to avoid reviewing any more of them. Then this film came along, and became the best Holocaust film of all time; every bit the equal of Schindler's List. This is due mostly to the performance of the outstanding young actress, Amandia Stenberg, who overwhelms the screen in every scene she is in. She will be a talent to be reckoned with for decades to come. Why some idiots are rating this film below a 7 is beyond my comprehension, although there are a lot more stupid people in the world than there are knowledgeable ones; so that might be an explanation. Be part of the world that isn't stupid, and view this film as soon as you can; you will not be disappointed.
68 Reviews
Well I enjoyed it anyway.
finesherry22 January 2019
Shame on haters
bashum-6573322 March 2019
I'm so so disappointed about the reaction of many people here voting for this movie to have a result of 5.5/10... not about the filming, not about the actors or the make-up but before all of that thinks everybody need to know this kind of story wasn't fiction. We can't treat this movie like a science fiction movie or something "distracting" because it had happen 70 years ago, it was real, so many people had suffering that way. We need to remember to make that thinks never happen again. That movie need to be show on schools to teach how fascism work and show how point basic racism is stupid
Fascism and love
baharuka28 April 2020
I don't think the movie deserves the worst reviews it got on here. It delivered an accurate depiction of the ruthlessness of fascism, which I am unfortunately familiar with, and of love between two young people. The acting was good to brilliant in my opinion. There were some scenes that were a little too long or not exactly necessary and I can't tell if the script fits the reality of those days a hundred percent but overall, it was a good watch.
WWII Movie Feels Too Safe
kellyq125 December 2020
Maybe this is made for kids, but this felt like a Diet Coke version of WWII. The premise is interesting - two teens on opposing sides (a biracial teen female and a Hitler youth male) fall for each other. But the film felt so light in its setup and the characters were acting in ways that made it feel like there was no real danger. It has pretty cinematography and the effort is there and the overall story premise is good, but it didn't feel all that realistic to me.
A story that was screaming to be told
skpn12322 January 2019
Agreed there are a plethora of riveting stories crying to be told about this period that should always be part of our memories and awareness as a generation of Holocaust and camp surivors leaves us. This is the first time I've seen anything address the struggles and experiences of bi-racial children in Germany at this time.
Theirs was a struggle to belong and reconcile their German identity with the atrocties in their personal and social world.
Stories like these are few and far between and when one see the ridiculous scores some have given this film it is no wonder. I agree with other reviewers that 'Sadly, I suspect this very departure from "the norm" is why this film is being unfairly downvoted'.
In a nutshell, there were many groups targeted under Nazi rule...we simply don't hear about them, short of some peripheral mention. And their attitudes and struggle for identity is worthy of understanding. I also commend Amana Asante for daring to tell this story, because within the black community (and others I'm sure) the backlash to this film has been fierce, which is precisely why we need more films like these that shatter the status quo. We are applauding you Amana and all of the wonderful team who worked on and acted in this quality film.
Theirs was a struggle to belong and reconcile their German identity with the atrocties in their personal and social world.
Stories like these are few and far between and when one see the ridiculous scores some have given this film it is no wonder. I agree with other reviewers that 'Sadly, I suspect this very departure from "the norm" is why this film is being unfairly downvoted'.
In a nutshell, there were many groups targeted under Nazi rule...we simply don't hear about them, short of some peripheral mention. And their attitudes and struggle for identity is worthy of understanding. I also commend Amana Asante for daring to tell this story, because within the black community (and others I'm sure) the backlash to this film has been fierce, which is precisely why we need more films like these that shatter the status quo. We are applauding you Amana and all of the wonderful team who worked on and acted in this quality film.
Where hands touch review
maddiebuggie3 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I wasn't too suprised when I liked this movie becuse I love war movies a lot. There was lot of action, drama, war, characters, character development, storyline and plot to keep the movie entertaining. The romance between the two main characters are so great they had good chemistry together. I was suprised when the father killed his son becuse they were in the middle of a war and the had help make a baby with someone of a darker skin tone. I was schooled when that happened. I was happy when the women got to see her family agian. This is a very emotional movie so keep tissues around.
An amazing love tale with history behind
sammidizzle6 March 2020
Well made, well acted and riveting
phd_travel23 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
What an unusual angle for a War movie. The story of a half African half German girl in Nazi Germany during WW2 is fascinating. She faces terrifying discrimination and even a labour camp.
The acting is very good. Amandla is really a breakout star with The Hate You Give and this movie, she is really giving the best performances of her generation. Abbie Cornish is convincing as her German mother but they didn't have to do that to her eyebrows. George McKay as her SS love interest is good too. Even if the romance is strained at times it's quite moving. Though his fate wasn't believable. Things get tedious towards the end.
A different and moving story.
The acting is very good. Amandla is really a breakout star with The Hate You Give and this movie, she is really giving the best performances of her generation. Abbie Cornish is convincing as her German mother but they didn't have to do that to her eyebrows. George McKay as her SS love interest is good too. Even if the romance is strained at times it's quite moving. Though his fate wasn't believable. Things get tedious towards the end.
A different and moving story.
Touching story with a weak script
tennisboyn3 January 2019
I suggest this movie to anyone not feeling critical, because unfortunately, it's very easy to criticize this movie. An intense story about a biracial girl falling in love with a Nazi official's son is carried, but not successfully, by weak accents and some acting that got me questioning. The writing struggled to stay engaging and falls to useless conversations that have no effect on the plot. The story is interesting and ended with a twist, but I think this movie could be cut down by 30 minutes to the same satisfaction of the viewer. I do recommend you watch this movie, but know there are some visible flaws in the writing.
Heartbreaking
debeautymarshall-190-66283024 March 2020
This movie was so very sad. I'm sure there were many stories like this during that time period in Germany. I cannot not digest man's inhumanity to man no matter what religion or race the are. So very disturbing. In my opinion this was a very well acted movie. The ending! Bittersweet. I don't understand how anybody could give it a bad review. I believe,actually that this should have been shown on the big screen. It would have done well
Cried a lot
gshrak24 August 2019
Important story -- terribly done
VoyagerMN19864 January 2019
Someone suggested that all the low ratings from the professional critics and viewers here are the result of some kind of bias.
Seriously recoiling and critiquing lousy film making, so bad that the message is -- "I love Romeo the Nazi" -- is an expression of bias?
I think virtually all of us panning this film *want* to give it a high rating for the story it is attempting to tell. But the clichés, terrible scripting, absolutely abysmal acting do not do credit to the story of attitudes toward biracial children in Nazi Germany (or virtually anywhere in the world where they were mostly seen as genetic and social threats).
The bravery and resilience of the young woman simply do not come through at all. It was an opportunity to present her as superior in every way and instead the writers decided to overlay a sanguine and utterly not credible "Romeo and Juliet" nonsense over the story, obliterating the meaning and actual genuine drama.
We get no explanation, none at all as to why this brave young biracial girl would fall in love with a Nazi who shows no real trepidation at being part of the machinery that will kill Jews, a lot of other people, and destroy Europe.
FYI the young actress, Amandla Stenberg, is actually a good actress. Abby Cornish once again proves she has lucked into a couple of roles, but in general she is at best a mediocre to poor actress.
Seriously recoiling and critiquing lousy film making, so bad that the message is -- "I love Romeo the Nazi" -- is an expression of bias?
I think virtually all of us panning this film *want* to give it a high rating for the story it is attempting to tell. But the clichés, terrible scripting, absolutely abysmal acting do not do credit to the story of attitudes toward biracial children in Nazi Germany (or virtually anywhere in the world where they were mostly seen as genetic and social threats).
The bravery and resilience of the young woman simply do not come through at all. It was an opportunity to present her as superior in every way and instead the writers decided to overlay a sanguine and utterly not credible "Romeo and Juliet" nonsense over the story, obliterating the meaning and actual genuine drama.
We get no explanation, none at all as to why this brave young biracial girl would fall in love with a Nazi who shows no real trepidation at being part of the machinery that will kill Jews, a lot of other people, and destroy Europe.
FYI the young actress, Amandla Stenberg, is actually a good actress. Abby Cornish once again proves she has lucked into a couple of roles, but in general she is at best a mediocre to poor actress.
Stupid Accents
Moravian12976 May 2021
Such a great movie!
JessaKat182 January 2019
I do not understand the low rating on this movie. This was such a great movie. It had me feeling all the feels for sure. I don't want to say anything to give away the movie but I will say ignore the low rating and watch it because we must never forget what the people of war had and do go through.
well acted but not thought provoking.
sadie-mck27 May 2019
Very well acted by Amandla Stenberg (who is heartbreakingly beautiful), George Mckay, Abbie Cornish and Christopher Eccleston. They worked very well with the poor script and oversimplistic narrative. there are some jarring ex machina moments that are so unbeliveable that they are more memorable than the overall movie. one scene, about 10 mins from the end ,that i wont spoil, made me gasp out loud and almost burts into tears. looking back it had to happen because the story had reached a bottle neck and we needed to see what happened to this particular character.
i knew of the existence of biracial Germans during WW2, some of whom survived the death camps. their story should be told but not in this syrupy adolescent way. reducing their important story into a teen romance is disrespectful and unforgiveable. overall the feeling this movie left me with is annoyance at this slick piece of race mixing propaganda. it could and should have been much better.
i knew of the existence of biracial Germans during WW2, some of whom survived the death camps. their story should be told but not in this syrupy adolescent way. reducing their important story into a teen romance is disrespectful and unforgiveable. overall the feeling this movie left me with is annoyance at this slick piece of race mixing propaganda. it could and should have been much better.
Emotional movie
joan-373044 January 2019
A very eye - opening movie!
artsycutie10 June 2020
I actually did not know that bi-racial people were treated differently alongside the Jews during this Nazi Germany, so this was quite an educational film despite the story not being real. It was a beautiful film, and it felt so real. I love the little scenes in the movie with her mother and her brother. A lot of people were discontent that this story was mixed with romance, but I quite enjoyed it because I'm sure that there were illegal bi-racial couples during Nazi Germany and I felt so many emotions for her, especially at the end. I just like that this story touched on a subject that I have never learned about and I always thought the war in Germany was only against the Jews.
Ulterior motive
wcpom15 February 2023
There is no doubt that there are people casting votes and leaving reviews, on war films, with an ulterior motive. Good films, that show sympathy to minorities, or civilians of the invaded countries of World War II are being criticised for their acting, historical accuracy, accents etc. They are also being given ridiculously low ratings by some, while others are giving them very high ratings, because they are actually very good films, or TV series.
This film is not alone in suffering this consequence, check out the reviews for the TV mini series World on Fire for example. Both this film and the mini series maintain a reasonably high score, despite all the ridiculously low ratings.
I am certain that this goes much further than simple differences of taste. If you want to see this in action, in real time, make a post on Twitter supporting gun control and you will be instantly bombarded with comments questioning your sanity, parenthood, intelligence etc. From people you have never heard of and had no idea followed your Tweets.
It would not surprise me if many of the low ratings and poor reviews are from people who have not actually seen the film. They are a political agenda and really need to be ignored.
This film is not alone in suffering this consequence, check out the reviews for the TV mini series World on Fire for example. Both this film and the mini series maintain a reasonably high score, despite all the ridiculously low ratings.
I am certain that this goes much further than simple differences of taste. If you want to see this in action, in real time, make a post on Twitter supporting gun control and you will be instantly bombarded with comments questioning your sanity, parenthood, intelligence etc. From people you have never heard of and had no idea followed your Tweets.
It would not surprise me if many of the low ratings and poor reviews are from people who have not actually seen the film. They are a political agenda and really need to be ignored.
Heart wrenching
linda-frances19 October 2019
Accents are all over the place, but still good
Vod080114 July 2020
The accents in this film are all over the place, especially Amandla's German accent. It sounded more like she was supposed to be in Black Panther, but ended up in the wrong movie. Other than that, the film is good. Not great, but good.
A story that should be told, just not like this.
Embroideredjune3 June 2019
There's a lot of things that could have made this movie a lot better; like getting rid of the cringy German accents and the terrible CGI backgrounds. If those two things had been different from the beginning, I would have rated this movie a lot higher.
The story however, is a story that should have been a movie. Just not this movie. Perhaps a movie made in Germany, by German people instead of Americans trying to be German in a studio in America.
The story however, is a story that should have been a movie. Just not this movie. Perhaps a movie made in Germany, by German people instead of Americans trying to be German in a studio in America.
An Eye Opener
arnoldarrons2 February 2019
An absolute brilliant movie that moved my soul!! It shows love knows no color, creed or belief. We were formed as humans to love and fight and know no limits be it good or evil. The painful moments in this film is my eye opener to the fact that the world was and is still is an extremely cruel place. How are we suppose to belong .....???
Could've been so much better
johnharapa19 March 2021
Most of the elements were there for an exceptional movie, cast, cinematography, music however a substandard script and poor direction has rendered this film TV movie 'du jour'
I desperately wanted this to be greater than great, to be moved, to be shaken and stirred - but alas I was not.
For all the right or wrong reasons, I've awarded 5 stars. The only thing that matters is one's own personal perspective.
Worth a watch
I desperately wanted this to be greater than great, to be moved, to be shaken and stirred - but alas I was not.
For all the right or wrong reasons, I've awarded 5 stars. The only thing that matters is one's own personal perspective.
Worth a watch
A Story Worth Telling
cameron-5047018 June 2022
But this film doesn't do it. Excruciatingly historically, geographically & aesthetically inaccurate. Absurd storyline and plot holes throughout. With these actors and the historical background it could have been so much better.
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