Lore

The year is 1945. Hitler is dead and the War is over. But for one German family, the horror is just beginning. Left to fend for themselves after their Nazi parents are taken prisoner by the victorious Allies, 14-year-old Lore (played brilliantly by newcomer Saskia Rosendahl) and her four siblings leave home and begin a perilous journey towards their grandmother’s house, 900 miles away in Hamburg. Along the way, the frightened, starving children meet up with a literal wandering Jew, a charismatic and somewhat mysterious young man named Thomas who puts his own life on the line to safeguard theirs in a way that contradicts everything they have been taught to believe. In adapting the novel The Dark Room by author Rachel Seiffert, Australian director Cate Shortland (Somersault) has made a serenely powerful, visually stunning second feature that tells a familiar story from a most unfamiliar perspective, devoid of sentimentality but rich in complex human emotions. A Music Box Films release.