Parents' Guide to White Bird

This is a thoughtful, faithful adaptation that captures the importance of young people's willingness to help others and stand up to evil. Director Marc Forster and screenwriter Mark Bomback slightly change the reason for Grand-mère's storytelling from the source novel, but her tough love in White Bird the movie works even better to reveal why Julian should know more about his namesake. Mirren is well cast as the elegant, charismatic grandmother with a devastating backstory to share. Anderson is equally as impressive as Julien's generous, kind mother, who treats Sara like her own. The young actors shine as Sara and Julien, whose relationship evolves slowly and involves a moving amount of imaginative play, sitting in a rusty old car and pretending to be somewhere, anywhere else where they can be free. Parts of the movie are reminiscent of both Hugo and The Diary of Anne Frank, and the imagery of the titular white bird is used effectively, as are the drawings in Sara's journal.

Obviously this is a fictional tale, and many true stories of hiding during World War II didn't involve such loving hosts, but White Bird's messages are still valuable. There's a continued need to tell Holocaust stories, particularly to younger audiences. The filmmakers stress that Sara is being targeted for no other reason than the fact that she's Jewish, and an early killing underscores the life-or-death stakes for anyone who dared to provide comfort or aid even to vulnerable Jewish children. The character of Vincent (Jem Matthews), a young fascist, also makes it clear that the Nazis had no use for someone like Julien, since he has a visible disability. Ultimately this simple tale manages to be substantive, heartbreaking, and uplifting.