Brick (2025)

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Brick (2025)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Sci-Fi
Length:  1h 39min
Rating: TV-MA
Director: Philip Koch
Writer: Philip Koch
Actors: Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee, Frederick Lau, Salber Lee Williams, Murathan Muslu, Sira-Anna Faal, Axel Werner, Alexander Beyer, Josef Berousek, Daniele Rizzo, Nader Ben-Abdallah, Daniela Galbo, Markus Ransmayr

IMDb Blurb: A couple whose apartment building is suddenly surrounded by a mysterious brick wall must work with their neighbors to find a way out.

Cat’s Point of View:
My daughter and I selected Brick to watch out of a completely random impulse – just because it was new and interesting, based on its description. When we began to watch the trailer, I got a bit excited because I recognized Matthias Schweighöfer (Army of the Dead, Oppenheimer, Elio) was one of the leads.

Selina and I had really enjoyed the Zack Snyder (Sucker Punch, Man of Steel, Zack Snyder's Justice League) movies Army of the Dead (2021) and Army of Thieves (2021). Of course, Schweighöfer actually directed the Thieves movie while Snyder wrote and produced that one… but I digress. We knew then that we really enjoyed Schweighöfer’s performance as Ludwig Dieter.

The concept of some sort of mysterious wall appearing instantly around a whole building and its impervious nature in the face of power tools sparked my interest. The fact I recognized a couple people in the movie was really only a secondary factor. I was intrigued by their problem-solving process, and appreciated the multiple layers to the story.

As I began to pull together the movie information for this review article, I was a bit baffled as to why the aggregate review scores for Brick were so low. This film really wasn’t bad. It wasn’t the most amazing thing I’d ever seen, but it was solid – not to make a wall pun.

Once I read through a few of the summaries, I began to piece together why this particular production fell flat for some Netflix viewers. I think it might have been a slight case of “lost in translation.”

While I felt that the literal translation and dubbing of Brick was just fine, and everything meshed better than expected for a film that wasn’t shot in English, I decided to watch it again in its original German with the subtitles just to compare.

I see what some viewers were getting at.

Don’t get me wrong, the actors that dubbed Brick for English did a good job. There was just a little loss of emotional nuance in the difference between the actor’s performance in the original filmed scene and the one in the voice-over, recording after-the-fact. There was a slight exception, however. Matthias Schweighöfer was able to dub his own lines in English. He was the only actor from the German language original to do so. 

That being said, if you don’t mind the subtitles, I would recommend watching Brick in its original language. Either way, I found this shiny new Netflix original to check off most of the proverbial boxes for elements I appreciate in a sci-fi movie. There were real stakes, the solution wasn’t spoon-fed to the characters and they had to reason things out. There was even a good example of why it’s not generally a good idea to drink the conspiracy theory Kool-Aid.

Brick might just be one of the hidden gems of the summer.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 35%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 27%
Metascore – 53%
Metacritic User Score – 4.2/10
IMDB Score – 5.4/10

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating –  3.5/5

Movie Trailer:

Sixty Minutes (2024)

 

 

Streaming Service: Netflix

Movie Name/Year: Sixty Minutes (2024) 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama 

Length:  1h 28min 

Rating: TV-MA

Director: Oliver Kienle 

Writers: Philip Koch, Oliver Kienle 

Actors: Emilio Sakraya, Dennis Mojen, Marie Mouroum, Paul Wollin, Florian Schmidtke, Aristo Luis, José Barros, Vassilis Koukalani, Janna Striebeck, Morik Heydo, Livia Matthes, Mehmet Atesci, Eniko Fulop, Bruno Salgueiro, Tatjana Sojic, Georg Blumreiter 

 

IMDb Blurb: Desperate not to lose custody, a mixed martial arts fighter makes dangerous enemies when he ditches a matchup to race to his daughter's birthday party. 

 

 

Selina’s Point of View: 

Sixty Minutes was so much better than it had any right to be.

 

The trailer for the film was fine. It looked like Sixty Minutes would be a solid action flick. Something along the lines of Run Lola Run (1998). Not bad footsteps to follow in, but usually those movies tend to be basic. They’re a dime a dozen and rarely have anything setting them apart from the others.

 

For that reason, I stuck Sixty Minutes in the 15th position of my Top 20. Not high, but respectable. 

 

In the interest of transparency, my ADHD was acting up, so I had to default to a dubbed version. Due to that, I won’t be talking about the script acting. I will say that there was nothing in the dubbing that interrupted my immersion. I was zoned into my screen the whole time, without fail.

 

 

Despite my personal issues, I found myself feeling everything I was meant to during the runtime. Instead of the cookie cutter, semi-solid action flick I was expecting – I got a pulse-pounding, character-driven, well-choreographed film.

 

When I say ‘well-choreographed’ I’m not talking about the John Wick (2014) style. Weapons, and creative use of the setting, is not really a factor. Nor am I talking about the Extraction (2020) method, where the cinematography becomes a character of its own in the battle. Instead, Sixty Minutes utilized a more realistic choreography. Everything that any character does is something a well-trained fighter could do. There was a touch of acrobatics, but it was mostly boxing/MMA. Fans of watching real fights would get a kick out of it.

 

I think realism is something that sets Sixty Minutes apart from its contemporaries. It allows for deeper immersion because nothing really comes out of left field. It’s all perfectly reasonable. The main character never seems invulnerable.

 

Sixty Minutes was amazing. It smashed through every single expectation I had for it and then some.

 

 

Cat’s Point of View: 

I remember being intrigued by Sixty Minutes when I saw its trailer last month. I am a big fan of action thrillers and this movie seemed to tick all those boxes on paper. I was initially a little concerned whether or not I would become invested in it enough that keeping up with subtitles and the action at the same time would mesh well, as the production was filmed in German. I was thrilled to discover this was one of the foreign films coming to Netflix that they had an English dub for, so that became a non-issue.

 

While I don’t generally follow MMA fighting, such as UFC, I do have a love of watching martial arts combat on the screen and a deep respect for the sport. That being said, the entire story of Sixty Minutes stems from the fact that the main character doesn’t make it into the ring for the scheduled fight. The structure of MMA matches and the octagon they take part in aren’t even a factor as the action flows organically through the whole city of Berlin. 

 

The stunt work here was crazy good and the fight choreography was on point. Sixty Minutes was an excellent vehicle for lead Emilio Sakraya (Warrior Nun, Tribes of Europa, One Night Off) to lean into his background of martial arts and parkour and really shine. Even the supporting cast in his proverbial corner were kicking serious ass. A stand-out for me was one Octa’s head trainers, Cosima, played by Marie Mouroum (Berlin Station, Black Panther, Tribes of Europa). She has an extensive background in cinema stunts and has worked on many heavy-hitting action pieces from Marvel Cinematic Universe to Bond films. She had a meatier role here where she got to show off her fighting chops and had a meaningful part to play as well.

 

The premise of this story didn’t have a lot of bells and whistles to it, but it didn’t need to. I was emotionally invested from the get-go and I could feel Octa’s pain and frustration as he embarked on this roller-coaster of MMA madness. I was right there with him feeling his emotional exhaustion as it seemed the whole world just wanted to get in the way of him achieving his all-important goal of saving his relationship with his daughter. I also appreciated that Sixty Minutes leaned into the realistic toll that the journey’s events took on his body and mental state -- keeping him human rather than the seemingly invincible hero trope that Hollywood often banks on.

 

If you’re looking for a fast-paced adrenaline ride with a lot of heart behind it, Sixty Minutes wouldn’t be a bad choice and I would encourage fans of the genre to check it out.

 

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 60% 

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 78% 

Metascore – None 

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 5.7/10 

 

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4.5/5 

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5 

 

Movie Trailer:

Munich: The Edge of War (2022)

 

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Munich: The Edge of War (2022)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Length: 123 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Production/Distribution: Turbine Studios, Netflix
Director: Christian Schwochow
Writers: Robert Harris, Ben Power
Actors: Alex Jennings, Anjli Mohindra, August Diehl, George MacKay, Jannis Niewöhner, Jeremy Irons, Jessica Brown Findlay, Liv Lisa Fries, Ludwig Simon, Mark Lewis Jones, Nick Wymer, Raphael Sowole, Robert Bathurst, Sandra Hüller
 
IMDb Blurb: A British diplomat travels to Munich in the run-up to World War II, where a former classmate of his from Oxford is also en route, but is working for the German government.

 
Selina’s Point of View:
I gravitate toward films about World War II. I feel as though the history of my ancestors is intertwined with the events to such a level that refusing to learn as much as I can about that time would be like spitting on a whole lot of graves.
 
This particular film made my blood run like ice.
 
There were conversations held throughout the film that sounded familiar to me. Not because I saw them in other movies, or read them in books, but because I’ve heard people have them in my lifetime. Every time a conversation like that came on screen, chills ran up my spine. Not just because of the comparisons of mass-apathy, but because there are people out there who don’t see the similarities.

 
Although the story in Munich – The Edge of War is fiction, it takes place in a very real setting. One that was well crafted behind the performances. Every step a character took in public was surrounded by an accurate depiction of the daily life of people during the time leading up to World War II.
 
Every watch through, more aspects of that daily life are exposed in the background. I’ve rarely seen that level of apathy mixed with despair and hatred portrayed as well on screen.
 
To get the full depth of Munich – The Edge of War, you really need to focus on the bigger picture – not just the performances and script. A difficult thing to do, since both aspects were entrancing.

 
I always find it difficult to tear my gaze away from George MacKay to begin with, but it was necessary here. In the past three years, I’ve become a huge fan of his, and I only see that growing. He’s exceptionally talented.
 
Despite the importance I found in Munich – The Edge of War, I understand that it’s not going to be for everyone. It’s more of a perpetually tense, slow burn, spy film than a complete war movie. Not everyone has the attention span, or interest, to really get into that.
 
If it is a part of your preferred genre, though, it’s worth a watch.
 
Unfortunately, I believe the people who need to watch it the most, would never get the message. 

 
Cat’s Point of View:
While I’m drawn to World War II movies, as I discussed in my #7 entry in January 2022’s Top 20 list, I’m never that enthusiastic about watching them. I have to muster the resolve to watch, as the memories of my grandfather’s stories and history lessons lurk with sadness in the back of my mind. Munich: The Edge of War was no different in that regard. I was impressed with the cast and curious as to the real events that inspired the tale, yet wasn’t eagerly anticipating the experience.

 
First, let me step back and explore this film from the perspective of a pure spy thriller. Of course, this was more of a period piece than your average spy flick. The trailer didn’t promise much action. A historical biopic drama like this, not based on a battlefront, shouldn’t really have that sort of expectation. All that was just fine. The setting was immersive and highly nuanced. So much was happening in the background around the characters that told a story unto itself.
 
I had been a bit on the tired side before I started watching Munich: The Edge of War, but I was decidedly awake by the time the somber credits ran. This production kept me sufficiently at the edge of my seat with worry for the characters and dread for what I knew was coming in general. I appreciated how authentic it seemed as the pair of schoolmates put themselves in harm’s way to uncover the underlying German ruler’s deceit. If everyone in the movie was a slick and polished master of spycraft, it would have thrown off the balance.

 
Munich: The Edge of War provided an eerie window through which to view Hitler. The production deftly examined how someone so malevolently charismatic could ensnare the hopes and national pride of their people and then show their underlying darkness. The fear of the masses and the zeal of those that followed blindly were clear on the screen without it having to be overtly shoved in the audience’s face.
 
It was particularly chilling, having heard strikingly similar discussions happening in the real world around me in recent years.
 
The performances of the cast really resonated with me. Jeremy Irons fit the role of the elder statesman like a tailored glove. The pair of George MacKay and Jannis Niewöhner gave me goosebumps at a few points and nearly brought me to tears.

 

I have not read the book upon which Munich: The Edge of War was based, so I am unable to attest to how faithful this adaptation was. However, if the book is anything like this movie was – or better – it must be something powerful, indeed.
 
If you’ve a mind for history, and appreciate World War II stories, Munich: The Edge of War is an excellent addition to your Netflix watch list. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 84%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 77%
Metascore –53%
Metacritic User Score – 6.6/10
IMDB Score – 6.9/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Movie Trailer:

'Tis the Season - Christmas Crossfire (2020)

 

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Christmas Crossfire (2020)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Length:  105 minutes
Rating: TV-MA
Production/Distribution: DCM Productions, Boje Buck Produktion, DCM Film Distribution, Netflix
Director: Detlev Buck
Writers: Martin Behnke, Detlev Buck
Actors: Alli Neumann, Anika Mauer, Bernd Hölscher, Dela Dabulamanzi, Detlev Buck, Frederic Linkemann, Jakob Schmidt, Karsten Mielke, Kostja Ullmann, Malte Thomsen, Merlin Rose, Peter Kurth, Roman Schomburg, Sascha Alexander Gersak, Steffen Scheumann, Sophia Thomalla
 
IMDb Blurb: A man foils an attempted murder, then flees the crew of would-be killers along with their intended target as a woman he's just met tries to find him.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
Most of us have run across the social media game that asks you to describe a movie badly in a sentence or two. Sometimes I feel like the person in charge of writing movie blurbs for Netflix is really trying to play that game with subscribers. While accurate, the description given for Christmas Crossfire was horrible. Unfortunately, IMDb and other sites ran with the Netflix version so I can’t offer much better.
 
One interesting thing to note about this German film is that its original title of Wir Können Nicht Anders roughly translates to “We Can’t Help It.” I think I like the English title better to describe the movie, but the original fits the story…generally.

 
When you get down to brass tacks, Christmas Crossfire was fairly decent. I had a few laughs with the wry humor, there was decent suspense in the thrill department, and I didn’t see the ending coming. There were a couple triggery bits here and there, however. Overall, I was believing what the production was selling. The chemistry between the protagonist couple was believable, and the story – while a little out there – was plausible. It was fairly easy to suspend my disbelief – especially while in a foreign language and subtitle situation. (Like the linked trailer shows, it does have an English dub, but the disconnect between words and mouth movements was bothering me so I watched it in German.)
 
As the title suggests, Christmas Crossfire is, in fact, a Christmas movie. The setting is squarely on the holiday, with lights and decorations to boot. The premise that gets this poor couple into their predicament is that the newly minted pairing decides to go to the girl’s home village for festivities. I can assure you, however, that Christmas Crossfire is nothing like what you’d find on Hallmark this year.  The ending, in fact, goes from shocking straight to strange.

 
I have a small confession to make. I watched most of this movie last year when it was released in 2020. I was intrigued by the trailer during our Top 20 research for last December, and in boredom played it one night. I was interrupted ¾ of the way through, though, so I hadn’t seen the ending before. I’m not sorry for watching a second time. I’m rather glad to get some closure for the escapades on screen.
 
If you’re looking for more standard Christmas movie fare, Christmas Crossfire might not be for you. However, if you like crime thrillers, this offbeat comedy might be a refreshing break from the hustle and bustle of the season – especially as we get into the week of the big day itself. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 21%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 4.8/10
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Guidance Rating – R
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5
 
Movie Trailer:

Naked Among Wolves (2015) - Foreign Film Friday

Number Rolled: 56

Movie Name/Year: Naked Among Wolves (2015)

Tagline: None

Genre: Drama, History, War

Length: 101 minutes

Rating: NR

Production Companies: UFA Fiction

Producer: Benjamin Benedict, Jana Brandt, Tim Greve, Nico Hofmann, Verena Monben, Korinna Roters, Christine Strobl, Sebastian Werninger

Director: Philipp Kadelbach

Writer: Bruno Apitz, Stefan Kolditz

Actors: Florian Stetter, Peter Schneider, Sylvester Groth, Sabin Tambrea, Robert Gallinowski, Rainer Bock, Rafael Stachowiak, Thorsten Merten, Torsten Michaelis, Robert Mika, Matthias Bundschuh, Ulrich Brandhoff, Torsten Ranft, Andreas Lust, Marko Mandic, Leonard Carow, Janusz Cichocki, Paula Hartmann, Jens Harzer, Max Hegewald, Robert Hunger-Buhler, David Sir, Vojta Vomacka, Tim Williams

Stunts: Jan Arnost, Jan Blahak, Marek Brichcin, Matous Brichcin, Robert Lahoda, Antje Rau, Tomas Rydval, Ivo Zubaty

Blurb from Netflix: When an orphan boy is smuggled into a concentration camp, he is protected by the prisoners, but the camp’s Nazi guards soon learn of his presence.

Selina’s Point of View:

I’m a little shaky at the moment.

From the very moment this film started playing, I knew what I was in for. It was meant to be a shocking and honest portrayal of the events that took place in one of the concentration camps. Even less truthful films about the holocaust can be difficult to watch, but this one was like a stab in the chest.

Naked Among Wolves was absolutely heartbreaking. In fact, the last film I can think of that captured the feel of the holocaust anywhere near the level this one did was Escape from Sobibor (1987).

I can’t imagine how difficult it was to film this.

We’ve discussed the mental toll acting out vicious scenes can take on the actors. Almost everyone knows the tales of how Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window) treated Tippi Hedren (Tribute, Dead Write, The Bold and the Beautiful) on the set of The Birds (1963) – or how Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut) treated Shelley Duvall (Changing Habits, Home Fries, The Portrait of a Lady) on the set of The Shining (1980).

The directors, in both instances claimed to make their choices in order to get the most honest performances from their actors.

In films like those, I imagine a director might need an alternate method of getting the most heartbreaking reaction from someone – but this was a film based on real life. I’m guessing that just knowing the events they were portraying were actually very close to real life, was all the motivation these actors needed.

Everything was written and acted so well that I can’t imagine a situation where someone wouldn’t be feeling every emotion they were meant to. Even the subtitles seemed to disappear for me, and I forgot I wasn’t just hearing English.

This was a great, if extremely troubling film. It was supposed to be troubling, though… and that counts as an incredible success.

Cat’s Point of View:

The dice have been giving us a lot of war movies lately. Seriously, what’s up with that?

Thinking of this film brings to mind so much that I have difficulty knowing where to start.

One thing’s for sure – I felt every moment of the 101 minutes of run-time. Usually, when I’m mentioning that it’s because I’m bored. That was decidedly not the case this time. It took a little bit to get invested; but once this movie had me in its grip, it didn’t let go. I spent a good chunk of the time with my heart in my throat worrying for the plight of the characters. I admit I checked the progress bar a few times –but only to see how much longer I might have to wait to learn what their fate would be.

The casting here was brilliant. I found the actors relatable in their roles, but the standout for me was the little boy. Oh, good lord how precious! It’s easy to see how he melted hearts (and inspired my tears). I really don’t know how child actors fare in Germany in comparison to the curse that seems to follow those stateside; but I know that this little dude is a leading man in the making. It really came across to me that he was emoting and not just following cues.

I have a decided love-hate relationship with this movie. It was well made, and was a stirring glimpse into history and highlighting events at a place you don’t hear as much about as opposed to Auschwitz. On the other hand, it gave me feels about some SS characters that I wasn’t comfortable with.

I’d actually recommend this movie in a heartbeat for anyone who enjoys the war-movie genre – especially from more of the drama angle instead of pitched battle footage.

Languages

Speech Available: French, German, Polish

Subtitles Available: English, French, Polish

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None

Metascore - None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 7.2/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5

Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: R

P.S. There are some historical recordings inserted into the film.

P.S.2. This film is a remake.

Movie Trailer:

We Are Young. We Are Strong. (2014) - Foreign Film Friday

Number Rolled: 92

Movie Name/Year: We Are Young. We Are Strong. (2014)

Tagline: None

Genre: Crime, Drama, History

Length: 123 minutes

Rating: NR

Production Companies: UFA Fiction, Das Kleine Fernsehspiel (ZDF), Arte, Cine Plus

Producer: Leif Alexis, Brukhard Althoff, Frank Evers, Olaf Grunert, Michael Jungfleisch, Jochen Laube, Helge Neubronner, Sarah Neumann

Director: Burhan Qurbani

Writer: Martin Behnke, Burnhan Qurbani

Actors: Jonas Nay, Trang Le Hong, Devid Striesow, Joel Basman, Saskia Rosendahl, Paul Gabler, David Schutter, Jakob Bieber, Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Mai Duong Kieu, Aaron Le, Larissa Fuchs, Axel Pape, Thorsten Merten, Enno Trebs

Stunts: Jan Bohme, Daniel Helbig

Blurb from Netflix: In 1992, three radically different residents of Rostock, Germany, became entangled in a violent xenophobic riot that rocks the beleaguered city.

Selina’s Point of View:

Considering the state of things recently, this movie was fucking terrifying.

We Are Young. We Are Strong. concentrated on riots that were protesting foreign asylum seekers while the government mostly ignored it and that the people involved weren’t really Nazis.

I’m sorry, I can’t talk about this film without going into the social weight of it. It sounds too familiar. It was horrific to watch, nerve-wracking, sickening, and so well done that it’s almost insane.

The movie starts out in black and white, so for a while it’s very easy to look at it as if it’s describing something in the past. Like it’s just another World War II film with updated fashion and technology. At the climax, however, the film bursts into color. Suddenly, you’re in the present and you can’t ignore the parallels anymore.

It tells you this is our world and that it happens in our time.

The absolute manipulation of the audience’s emotions and perspective was outstanding. In fact, it’s something I’ve never seen before. The closest thing I can think of would be the films that are largely in black and white, but feature red to accentuate blood. Although those films do get their point across, this was much different, much better, and much more affective.

My family is Jewish. I grew up learning about the holocaust, Nazis, and the atrocities of that time. One of the first comics I read cover to cover (other than Archie) was Maus. As graphic as that comic was, I read it in middle school.

When you grow up in a Jewish family, you don’t wait until Junior High or High School to learn about hate. It’s in our past. Our grandparents and great grandparents were more than just targets, they were barely seen as human in many places during their time.

Movies that involve Nazis, and a level of hate that chooses victims from birth, make me a little ill. I watch them because I owe it to my ancestors to never forget what they went through. Films that are based in World War II are easier to watch because I can remember, but still acknowledge that it’s in the past. This film was based in the 90s and reminded me of shit happening now, in my country. The terror factor was much higher with this movie.

I don’t throw the word ‘Nazi’ around. It’s a powerful word. I don’t call every right-wing person a Nazi. I don’t used the term feminazi. I look at people who do as if they’re dumb. However, when confronted with a group of people who use the ‘sieg heil’ salute and chant racist things, of course I’m going to use that word – because that’s what they are. You can give them a different name if you want, but a rose by any other name will smell as sweet.

This film is from a different country and made years ago. The picture it paints, however, was not an unfamiliar one.

Furthermore, this film was very good at showing all the sides of what was happening. You got to see the point of view of the Nazis, the victims, and the politicians. You got to see the danger of not taking sides, of hate, and of trying to just block out the bad. I think that’s very important.

I won’t continue on. I want to, this is a very important subject to me, but I won’t.

This film won’t be for everybody, but it is a phenomenal work of art, and I do recommend it.

Cat’s Point of View:

Ugh.

It sounds like an ominous word to open with. It’s well earned by this exceedingly dark and heavy movie.

That being said, it wasn’t bad. It was haunting. The film was a visceral gut-punch repeated from beginning to end. One of the most chilling realizations while watching was that this is based on a true historical event in Germany. Part of me feels rather badly that I don’t remember it. I don’t recall if it hit the news here in the States or not.

Everyone that was around and old enough to remember things in 1989 remembers the Berlin Wall coming down – but for 1992, this doesn’t jog my memory.

Fear of the unknown and different is still a problem today. Xenophobia still survives even in the modern age we live in – but I don’t have to tell you that. What I can tell you is that it makes me ill to think about. Watching a whole cringe-inducing movie full of neo-Nazi propaganda, even as a cautionary tale, was hard to do.

There were moments I held my breath, and others that I scolded the screen. There were times that I fervently wished that characters made different choices – alas, my role could be no more than an unwilling bystander… unlike the mobs that gathered to denounce refugees back in the summer of 1992.

There are some eerie similarities to some of the political rhetoric I’ve heard bandied about in recent times; and that is a very chilling revelation.

Back to the movie.

I loved the black-and-white as a cinematic choice. It likely was meant to be metaphorical – and it worked brilliantly.

This is one of those movies that stirs something inside you and leaves you changed once you’ve watched it – and then you never want to see it again. That’s where I am right now. The roll of credits found me in solemn and silent awe. I didn’t like the feeling I was left with.

The film was very effective getting its message across.

I doubt that school boards would allow it, but this movie quite possibly would be a good teaching tool to highlight mob mentality as well as a number of other societal issues; not to mention the inherent history lesson.

The film was powerful and I hated it – in the best way.

Languages

Speech Available: German, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, French

Subtitles Available: English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Spanish

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 83%

Metascore - None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 7.2/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5

Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: R

Movie Trailer: