Upon learning that many former Nazis returned to their pre-war lives with no penalty due to the conspiracy of prominent German institutions and government branches to cover up their crimes during World War II, an ambitious German prosecutor vows to bring them to justice.
The movie reveals so many secrets and twists that it threatens to dilute its message. When a visit to Auschwitz becomes little more than an appreciation of a pretty meadow, the script flirts with banality.
This post-Holocaust drama, while admittedly quite engrossing to watch, can't avoid coming across as overly streamlined to offer easy catharsis for a mainstream audience.
Director Giulio Ricciarelli likes to mix things up, adding thriller-like pace and romance to jolly us along. It's such heavy stuff that you thank him for it.
The movie is a strong account of a lesser-known episode of post-Holocaust history raised above its obvious cinematic formula by Fehling's anchoring performance and the film's wise approach to the survivors' horrific testimony.
Fehling, whose face is familiar from Inglourious Basterds and Homeland, has the matinee idol looks to carry a heroic role. But there are several scenes and plot developments that have a schematic, template-like feel to them.
