I have to break format for my review of The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, as I do not have access to a computer with internet until later this week, so please excuse the lack of a poster and trailer.

The movie, based on the novel “The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas” by John Boyne, tells the story of Bruno (Asa Butterfield, Son of Rambow), the eight-year-old son of a Nazi commander. When Bruno’s father (David Thewlis, Harry Potter) is promoted to head a “farm” (Auschwitz, though it’s never directly identified), Bruno befriends a Jewish boy named Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a prisoner of the work camp. While his father carries out his duties, Bruno’s sister Gretel (Amber Beattie, Empathy) becomes further influenced by Nazi propaganda, and his mother (Vera Farminga, The Departed) works to shelter Bruno from his father’s true position and responsibility in Hitler’s Germany.

This movie was one of the best films I’ve seen all year. As a pure drama, no stone was left unturned as Bruno’s curiosity an innocence were explored. David Thewlis gave an incredible performance as a Nazi commander trying to do what he believed was best for his family and his country. Vera Farminga was stunning as the maternal figure, faced with protecting her son from the extremist force of Nazi propaganda, even as her daughter becomes a poster child of Nazi support. Not enough can be said of Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon. Both children did an outstanding job of just being children, oblivious of the danger they faced by being friends.

If you’re in the mood for a drama, and a movie involving the holocaust does not make you uncomfortable, then I highly recommend seeing The Boy In the Striped Pajamas.

NOTE: The original title is The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas for people not in the US.