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THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

PG-13 

2008, Drama, 1h 34m

65%
TOMATOMETER144 Reviews

85%
AUDIENCE SCORE100,000+ Ratings

WHAT TO KNOW
CRITICS CONSENSUS
A touching and haunting family film that deals with the Holocaust in an arresting and
unusual manner, and packs a brutal final punch of a twist. Read critic reviews

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WANT TO SEE
    
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS PHOTOS
  1
 2
 3
 4
 5

View All Photos (28)

MOVIE INFO
During World War II, 8-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield) and his family leave Berlin to take up
residence near the concentration camp where his father (David Thewlis) has just become
commandant. Unhappy and lonely, he wanders out behind his house one day and finds Shmuel
(Jack Scanlon), a Jewish boy of his age. Though the barbed-wire fence of the camp separates
them, the boys begin a forbidden friendship, oblivious to the real nature of their surroundings.

 Rating:

PG-13 (Some Mature Thematic Material|Involving the Holocaust)

  Genre:

Drama

 Original Language:

English

 Director:

Mark Herman

 Producer:

David Heyman

 Writer:

Mark Herman

 Release Date (Theaters):

Nov 7, 2008  Limited

 Release Date (Streaming):

Mar 10, 2009

 Box Office (Gross USA):

$9.0M

 Runtime:

1h 34m

 Distributor:

Miramax Films

CAST & CREW

David Thewlis
Father

Vera Farmiga
Elsa

Rupert Friend
Lt. Kotler

Asa Butterfield
Bruno

 
Jack Scanlon
Shmuel

Amber Beattie
Gretel

Show all Cast & Crew 

NEWS & INTERVIEWS FOR THE BOY IN THE STRIPED
PAJAMAS

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CRITIC REVIEWS FOR THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

All Critics (144) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (93) | Rotten (51)

[Director] Mark Herman knows how to milk the melodrama from every scene, but
viewers may feel a little icky about the experience.
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Hank SartinTime Out

TOP CRITIC

The result isn't a deep film, but rather a profound one.

May 13, 2009 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Roger MooreOrlando Sentinel

TOP CRITIC
We are left in no doubt about the brutality of what's going on there but it's almost
entirely off-screen. Still, the film is terribly confronting.
May 1, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Paul ByrnesSydney Morning Herald

TOP CRITIC

The tropes of the heartwarming indie kids movie get thrown together with the tropes of
the low-voltage, war-at-home war drama, and the result is muddled but undeniably
affecting
November 21, 2008 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…

Josh RosenblattAustin Chronicle

TOP CRITIC

In truth, the film is sure to stop the hearts of many who see it. There may indeed be
hope in hell, but better to avoid hell altogether.
November 14, 2008 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Tom LongDetroit News

TOP CRITIC

Because its gaze is so level and so unyielding, it stands as one of the better dramatic
films made on this subject (although it's not nearly as fine as Louis Malle's Au Revoir les
Enfants, in which the camps remain a distant abstraction).
November 14, 2008 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Ty BurrBoston Globe
TOP CRITIC
“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” asks several powerful questions about war, family,
and morality. It also gives us a glimpse into a part of our world’s history that is still hard
to look at but should be reckoned with.
August 19, 2022 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Keith GarlingtonKeith & the Movies

A valiant attempt to tell a small scale story about an unimaginably huge period in our
history, and while it may drag in places, it has its heart in the right place and a
devastating ending that will take your breath away.
January 31, 2021 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Richard CrouseRichard Crouse

At once painful, tear-jerking, and deeply emotional, this is a film that cannot be easily
forgotten.
November 28, 2020 | Rating: 8/10 | Full Review…

Mike MassieGone With The Twins

British director Mark Herman's film... is moving and thought provoking, and handles its
subject matter with great sensitivity. It deserves to be seen by young and old.
November 12, 2020 | Full Review…
Jason BestMovie Talk

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas may very well be 2008's most important family film.
September 4, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0 | Full Review…

Richard PropesTheIndependentCritic.com

Despite the film's various weaknesses, however, it's hard not to be moved by its ending.
September 2, 2020 | Full Review…

Joanne LaurierWorld Socialist Web Site

View All Critic Reviews (144)

AUDIENCE REVIEWS FOR THE BOY IN THE STRIPED

PAJAMAS
 Feb 28, 2013

The negative criticism of this film seems to be because a) for a children's film the
denouement is far too horrific and b) the film trivialises the holocaust. This film is,
obviously, not a documentary, or a thorough look at the holocaust, or an exhaustive
epic. Instead, it is a powerful, beautifully acted film largely seen from the point of
view of an eight year old trying to make sense of something that doesn't, given
conflicted information, or shielded, or subjected to dangerous propaganda, or denied
voice (the mother is a particularly fascinating character, acted with quiet anger by
Vera Farmiga). The ending is undeniably powerful but to say that it is "too much" is a
condescending viewpoint of children and what they understand (which paradoxically
ties into the film's very theme). Taken as what it is - which in no way is a criticism -
this film is practically a masterpiece.
 SHOW MORE

Daniel PSUPER REVIEWER

 Jan 20, 2013

Popularity of a Labrador, bravado of a Bulldog, confused as a Cockerpoo and Totally

Shih-Tzu. This WWII drama follows Bruno and his German family from their family
home in Berlin to their new house following his Father's promotion. His Father is
presumably an SS Officer and he is to become the new Governor of a concentration
camp (loosely based on Auschwitz). The new home is next to the camp and the
audience watch as Bruno slowly finds out more and more about the situation as the
wool can no longer be pulled over his eyes. It is very much a movie about viewing the
holocaust through the eyes of a child. When he views the camp for the first time
through his bedroom window (having been shielded from the truth by his parents) he
thinks he can see farmers tendering the land in their nightwear. I am very interested in
anything related to the Second World War. I really wanted to like this film, but I
can't; 'cos it's crap. Many people who have seen the film find it shocking. I must
admit that I did too. We see the Swastika's flying on the red Nazi flags, the German
troops and are aware we are in the German capital in the 1940's. The first man opens
his mouth to speak and out flows the English language. I found this shocking, but was
intrigued to see how this would work. As the film continued my irritation was
building to a crescendo. It's not like Schindler's List where, everyone speaks with
various accents, but speak English as it's an American Movie. The Nazis speak with
the thickest of English accents, as do the Jews, the children and the rest of the world
presumably. It really is the clearest "Queens English", I can just image one of the SS
officers turning to the other and saying; "Pardon me old boy, would you mind awfully
if we stopped for a spot of afternoon tea before we stroll over the road and bump 'orf
a couple of dozen gentlemen of the Jewish persuasion?" Image a new movie is
coming out called "Churchill", which is made by Germans but set in England.
Imagine that we're in the height of WW2 and the family gather around the wireless to
hear our Prime Minister speak. We hear him deliver his most famous of speeches -
"We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and
oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we
shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we
shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender". Now image that its delivered in the
thickest German you've ever heard! Personally I find this aspect of the film insulting.
As a Brit and for the Germans. It's not a subtle thing, its very "in your face" and
clearly done on purpose. It doesn't stop at the language either. Everything about this
movie wreaks of English culture. I did consider whether it was portrayed like this so
the audience would relate more or perhaps to bridge a cultural separation. But for
whatever reason, it doesn't work and was a poor choice. Especially in the scene where
 they view the film that has been made to eradicate peoples doubts in the camp - that
its more of a holiday camp than a death camp. Moving on; everything from the acting,
to the music, to the wardrobe is inaccurate, weak and feels like a cheap amateur
production. The story is supposed to be a tragedy, but I couldn't get into the film
enough to feel anything. It's just too unbelievable. I can't believe that some of the
actors were selected for their roles. I just can't understand why. Maybe they were the
only ones to turn up on the day? Jack Scanlon (Shmuel) is particularly bad. As far as
acting goes, I feel Henry Kingsmill (who played Karl) was the best by a long way.
More convincing than anyone else on screen throughout. For me, the movie is all
mixed up, back to front and round the wrong way. Jewish characters played by clearly
non-Jewish actors, the movie is all in English but the literature is in German, the
German child is brunette and the Jewish child is blonde and most notably 6,000,000
Jews were murdered in the holocaust yet this is a tragic story of 1 Nazi child who was
killed alongside. If you swap the Nazi's, the Jew's and the concentration camp for Al
Qaeda, American citizens and the Twin Towers America would boycott the movie and
label it as seriously poor taste. On a positive note, I felt that certain scenes seemed
metaphorical. Which I found quite insightful. Such as when Bruno (Asa Butterfield -
one of the better actors in the movie) lies about being friends with Shmuel out of fear.
As maybe many Germans did at the time. I found the scene where his Father is
deciding to "come clean" and tells his son; "Those people ... are not really people at
all" quite a good reflection on how Germany saw Jews, as parasites. I would have
liked to see that scene go on a little longer. Perhaps to answer some of the questions
Bruno may have asked. I found it a clever idea that Bruno asked questions and in the
lack of response the viewer seems to answer them in their own mind. This way it
becomes very personal. It would have been very powerful, if it wasn't so transparent.
In short The Boy in Striped Pajamas strives to be a sentimental, heartfelt, shocking
tale of discovery. But is ultimately an unbelievable, naive, clearly fictional story that
is only shocking to those previously unaware of the situation. It loses marks for being
unconvincing, making poor choices in direction, being weak throughout and
personally found it insulting to me and the darkest hour of World War II.

SHOW MORE

James CSUPER REVIEWER

 Oct 27, 2012

Moving film about those in concentration camps in WWII. Good performances.

Christian CSUPER REVIEWER

 Jun 17, 2012

 An oversimplification of the Holocaust, yes, as a very young German boy during
WWll accidentally discovers exactly what his camp commandant dad does for a
living, but to be forgiven its chosen naive viewpoint in respect to its chosen naive
audience: a perfect film for schools.

SHOW MORE

Kevin M. WSUPER REVIEWER

See All Audience reviews

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