Through a child's eyes - a gentle demonstration of human wickedness.

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2020)

Asa Butterfield ("Bruno") is the 8 year old son of a Nazi SS officer charged with commanding a European concentration camp. There he befriends a young Jewish inmate ("Schmuel") and slowly begins to challenge the indoctrination of the Nazis as they chat and play separated by a barbed wire fence. This most hideous of topics is handled subtly and delicately without avoiding the core horror and Nazi propaganda surrounding the holocaust and David Heyman has adapted John Boyne's book in a sympathetic and authentic way. There may well be factual inaccuracies but this is ultimately a story of compassion and a true "coming of age" and works well in that space.