Parents' Guide to Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.

This faith-based World War II biopic is deeply problematic and suffers from unsophisticated, sometimes unclear, filmmaking, but it has a strong central performance and a relevant, even necessary, message. Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. was written and directed by Todd Komarnicki, who contributed the screenplay for Clint Eastwood's superb Sully. That film did a remarkable job of balancing the gray areas and nuances of the main character's heroism, but Bonhoeffer is a little more straightforward when it really needed to dig deeper. The problem is that, while Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings and teachings have endured, they've also been co-opted by those with a wide range of political ideologies to justify or condemn certain behavior. The movie does nothing to address this conundrum, and thus it could be used as a dangerous bit of propaganda. But there's enough here to hopefully encourage further research.

As for the storytelling, Komarnicki chooses to flash back and forth between many timelines, sometimes only a few years apart, and that can be disorienting. This also serves to sideline every other character except Bonhoeffer himself. None of them come to life. That's a shame, considering that Niemoller is also a character; he's known today for his sermon that began with "First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist..." (which is heard in the movie). Nevertheless, in the lead role, Dassler (Never Look Away) gives a fierce, passionate, empathetic performance that continuously draws viewers back in. Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. gets a marginal recommendation, mainly because—as a warning that evil can still happen—it's too important to ignore.