Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
A good man does bad things to survive; violence, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Will
What's the Story?
The movie opens as narrator WILL (Stef Aerts) scornfully derides both those who congratulate him for surviving the German terror of World War II and those who ask, "Why'd you let it happen?" His response is that you can't know what it was like unless you were there, and the movie proceeds to show us what it was like. He and Lode (Matteo Simoni) were two young Antwerp police officers out on their first night of duty in occupied Netherlands. Although the Germans commanded the local police, Will's anti-Nazi commander advised the new recruits, for purposes of self-preservation, to stay neutral, neither help nor obstruct, to "stand and watch" no matter what barbarism the Germans around them were committing. That advice proves impossible to follow when a German soldier randomly orders the pair of rookies to help find a Jewish family he's been ordered to arrest. Will and Lode are disgusted by the order but obey until they can't anymore. When the Jewish couple escapes with a small child, the German tries to shoot them, and then beats them in the street. Will and Lode try to stop him and the German violently beats Lode. To save his colleague, Will kills him. The Germans, unable to find the killer, retaliate by putting innocent men labeled "communists" against a wall and shooting them. Will joins the local secret Dutch resistance but soon he must make choices about whether to resist further or, to survive, go along with horrific German orders and become a collaborator.
Is It Any Good?
Often difficult to watch but always riveting, Will offers a look at the everyday ordinariness of collaboration. A conscience is a luxury, Will tells us. This is a devastating indictment of the human instinct to survive. Although Will himself does not seem to be an anti-Semite, when given the choice of throwing Jews into trucks for deportation or getting killed for disobeying orders, he does what he's told. The movie also reminds us that Nazis did not meet great resistance to their "final solution" policies designed to eradicate European Jews as they conquered country after country. The movie suggests that it took little prodding for many Dutch, French, Ukrainian, and others to denounce, round up, beat, and murder Jewish friends and neighbors and handsomely profit from those activities.
Will, on the other hand, is disgusted by the Nazi barbarity and the cruelty of his fellow Dutch. He risks his life to hide Jews and arranges for their false passports, but, when his life is threatened, he also helps round up and beat Jews for deportation. By then he has tried to live by his conscience, but the price is too high and he will not sacrifice his own life just so he can call himself good.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the question of conscience posed by the movie. Some Dutch citizens believed that resistance against the Nazis was their only option. Others were too afraid to resist for fear of death, and others still willingly collaborated, in full agreement with the Nazi agenda of ridding the world of Jews. How does the movie want us to feel about each of those groups?
How do you think Will feels about the things he did during the war? How does the movie convey his feelings?
They say history is the story told by victors. What does this film say about that theory?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 31, 2024
- Director : Tim Mielants
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 110 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : February 14, 2024
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