A “tragic” war film set in Munich during World War 2 moved audiences “to the core” and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005) is a based on the true story of a fearless German 21-year-old woman in Munich who dared to stand up to the Nazi regime.
The German-language film depicts Sophie’s efforts to resist Adolf Hitler’s monstrous plans as a member of the White Rose, an non-violent student resistance group bitterly opposed to the fascist party. Set in 1943, the film was directed by Marc Rothemund, and stars Julia Jentsch as Sophie.
One Audience Reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes described the film as: “Cinematic poetry. Brave, bitter-sweet, tragic poetry. Best seen with an idea of the history of the White Rose Movement. A film you will remember.”
Another called it an “amazing story of what drives people and how they will stand, live and die for conviction and what is right” adding: “see this film”.
A third said: “What I love about this movie is that there’s no fluff, there’s no angling for awards or Hollywood moments.
“It genuinely tells the tale of Sophie Scholl and other brave people of the White Rose movement who stood up to Nazi evil. A must see.”
A fourth called it a “heart-pounding movie that inspires all of us to be courageous and fight for what we believe in”.
However, despite its PG rating, fans noted that the film is not an easy watch, depicting the cruelty and heartlessness of Nazi-era Germany.
One said the film will “move you to the core”.
“This should be required viewing for schoolchildren in every open society. A testament to faith, conscience, courage, and the human will to freedom and justice,” they added.
The film is perhaps lesser known among than other hard-hitting WW2 films, and was included by one IMDb user in a list of their top 10 most underrated films of all time.
Its highly rated among critics, with an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer (which reflects the percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given it a positive review).
It also got a positive response from the general public, with a Popcornmeter score of 88% (the percentage of users who rated it 3.5 stars or higher).