User reviews

This is a scenario we have seen many times, in many different movies: a family, a group of children or some other sympathy-worthy bunch of individuals, escape from Nazi persecution by crossing the Alps or the Pyrenees or some other obstacle to reach freedom and safety. Many of these movies are truly gut wrenching, engrossing and emotional experiences, sadly, this movie is not quite up to that standard. In fact, it's rather bland.

The makers of this movie mean well, you can see that, but they miss the mark. The scenery is gorgeous. The outdoor shots of the village mostly look suitably authentic. The interior shots though look more like what Hollywood thinks a provincial home, shop or school should look like rather than the real thing. The casting is slightly odd too. It seems a peculiar choice to cast two high profile American actors as French peasants when everyone else in the movie is French or German as the case may be. Angelica Huston and Noah Schnapp are fine actors. I like them both, but they are miscast here. The story here isn't particularly interesting and certainly doesn't evoke the emotional response it should. The story seems rushed and there is a lot that is left unexplored. We never see below the surface of the characters or learn what makes them tick. We don't get to know the characters well enough to really care about them. There is no sense of threat or danger, no dramatic climax and the ending falls flat. Some scenes seem very amateurishly staged. For instance, there is a scene towards the end of the movie where an entire village is supposedly rejoicing. It is the most halfhearted, anemic, poorly attended celebration I have ever seen.

To cut a long story short, this is not a bad movie; there's just nothing special about it. There are so many better and enjoyable movies in this genre that I find myself wondering why the heck they made this one at all. If you really want to see this sort of thing done right, may I recommend the movie 'Fanny's Journey', which was recently streaming on Netflix. It is one of the good ones and there are many others.

Beautifully filmed in a mountainous area of France near Spain. The point of view of a young boy roped into help Jewish children hiding and then fleeing over to Spain. There are some Allo Allo cliched characters played by famous actors including Jean Reno and the quintessential good German Thomas Kretschmann. Angelica Huston is surprisingly okay. There isn't much wrong with the show but it feels boring and cliched with one dimensional characters. But if you accept it is for younger audiences then it's okay for what it is. After all the writer is War Horse's Michael Morpugo.

..enough drama which would have appeal to a teenage audience in particular Beautifully location also

This movie is missing something. A very retold story. I was excited to watch it at first, as Noah Schnapp is in it. Yet I just wasn't satisfied. It was boring and rather unsuspenseful. My family wasn't entertained and only I finished the movie. There could've been more to happen. It was so plain, reminded me of like a plain grain muffin. As someone who is a HUGEEE history buff, I've seen a lot of films very similar. This movie does not have much to it.

OK movie set in southern France during the waning years of WW2. Noah Schnapp stars as Jo, a young French boy who finds a man hiding in the woods while he is helping out with the family's sheep. He follows him to a neighbor's house and discovers that the house is being used to harbor Jews who are travelling to Spain for safety.

The movie is intended for younger audiences and many of the scary elements you would see in similar movies has been considerably toned down. Even the German army that has occupied the town seem oddly tame.

While the movie is well acted, the characters lack any depth and are rather cliched. Noah Scnapp and Anjelica Huston are oddly cast being American. The movie is OK overall.

Better movies in this genre are Downfall, Au Revoir Les Enfants; and Schindler's List.

Anjelica Huston is the widow "Horcada" who has for quite a while been serving as a conduit to help escaping Jewish and French citizens across the Pyrenee mountains and into the safety of neutral Spain. The arrival of a small but menacing Nazi detachment in their village, however, makes this task even more perilous - and she is fast running out of allies. It's at this point that she turns to the young "Jo" (Noah Schnapp) who is more accustomed to herding sheep, and soon he is providing an essential link trying to get the escapees to freedom. The story here is not that unfamiliar, but there is a solid effort from the engaging young Schnapp and the writing does try to humanise the occupiers - largely via the persona attributed to the corporal (Thomas Kretschmann) - as the story gradually develops. Tómas Lemarquis exudes a fairly subtle degree of menace as their commander and a solid supporting cast including Jean Reno and Sadie Frost help keep this nicely shot, if largely unremarkable and maybe just a bit too wordy, drama moving along to the only denouement we were ever going to get. It is a nice, feel-good, film that makes for a perfect afternoon tea and biscuits watch. Don't expect anything gritty or harrowing, just enjoy some stunning cinematography and a few characterful leading performances.

Based on Michael Murpego's book, this well intentioned film covers the plight of French villagers bordering the Piranese mountains, aiming to smuggle children into Spain. Firstly, it looks magnificent, with wonderful views of the mountains and the surrounding countryside. Its main two stars, Jean Reno and Angelica Huoston do a good job but the supporting cast are a bit hit and miss. Where this film struggles though is to bring any real tension into the film, without this peril the drama struggles to engage despite the worthy storyline and ultimately I would rather have watched one of the many other films that pull this kind of film off, far better than this one did.

It is always easy to paint one group of people as all evil and another as all good, but this story beautifully portrays the consequences of individual choices. While most German soldiers went along willingly with the Final Solution, there were those who quietly did what they could to resist. A good friend of mine who survived Auschwitz did so because a high-level German electrical engineer took him under his wing for more than a year and a half, hiding this Jewish boy in plain site from those who would gladly have killed him. And there were many individuals, French and other non-Germans, who willingly cooperated with what the Nazis were doing to the Jews. Each of us needs to ask ourselves what we would do, given the opportunity to stand up to evil like this, even if it put our lives at risk?

I for one am glad that this film quietly tells the story of the courage of an entire simple French mountain village, beginning with a shepherd boy who cared about the welfare of others. The very ordinariness of what is portrayed here, within the extraordinary larger context of the Second World War, is part of what makes this story so special. Yes, it is fictional but it is based on real events. This film is also beautifully filmed and is movingly expressive of human courage. As Proverbs 24:11-12 states, "Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, "Surely we did not know this," does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?" I for one strongly recommend this film as truly worth seeing!

The story was good and rather interesting. Unlike some others, I did not find the film boring to watch but oh my god with the directing! What did the director think when he was shooting this film?! Some scenes don't add up, others are simply gap fillers with nothing to add to the overall story. Some acting was seriously an eyesore!

If this film was handled better by a different director, it could have been a different outcome for sure. With 3 out of 5 stars, it might seem generous - maybe it is - but I still think it's worth watching despite all of its shortcomings, of which there are many.

Extremely hard to follow i still don't know what was happening.

Big turnoff when there is little in the way of authenticity. The signs are all in French, as are the books etc but everyone speaks English. Really requires a huge stretch of the imagination not to be disoriented. Stopped watching after a few minutes as that lack of authenticity really became too annoying! Either use the correct language or set the movie elsewhere and use the original story as the inspiration!

Refreshing to watch a movie about people standing up to fascism, which still survives

It's summer 1942. Deportations begin in France's north but in the south, life has remained mostly the same. Jo Lalande is a young shepherd working for his grandpa Henri (Jean Reno) in a remote mountain village. He encounters a mysterious man after a bear attack. He follows the man to his hideout. His name is Benjamin. He is waiting for his daughter Anya while hiding at his widow mother Horcada (Anjelica Huston). Father and daughter got separated when Nazis rounded up Jews in Paris. Meanwhile, Jewish children are gathering at the home and Benjamin smuggles them onward into Spain.

It's a standard escaping from Nazis film. It doesn't really have the bite of those others. The Germans need a bit more ruthlessness. It suggests it but it doesn't do it until the end. It could have intensify in a couple of different spots. Two times, there are epic opportunities to have an escape in a storm. The first time, they retreated. The second time, they show it as a flashback. The bear should have served as bookends to the story but both times, the bear is only a background player. Neither times is satisfactory. There is good sincerity but this lacks the intensity needed.

The absolute worse film Noah Schnapp has made its kind of sad seeing stranger things kid like this it has its feel gods moments kind of scary but it's not the best

Michael Morpurgo's classic novel gets a film adaptation.

Yes, there are errors, but on the whole this was an engaging and interesting piece of cinema.

It's a shame it didn't get more of a release.

Imagine a story not too dissimilar to Jojo Rabbit, except its for kids, its clearly a drama, and it has the quality of writing, acting, direction and the overall production value of your typical CBBC TV show.

I love watching true storys and this one showed what else they done to save the lives of the Jewish children so they could have a better life and not end up like the parents getting sent to the camps not only is this true but story's like these rarely get made. Because they seem to be forgotten brilliant acting by all the cast and this film I would say is dedicated to these people who risked there own lives knowing if they got caught they would know what would happen and even now after all these years after WWII nobody will ever forget what the Germans done in the war.

I can't put my finger on it, but certain movies have an unnamed quality, and certain movies don't. This movie just doesn't have it... It's suspenseful, decently acted, and moving. But it just dragged a bit, and it never quite held my attention. I didn't hate it, but I don't know exactly why I didn't like it either. It was just meh.

Waiting For Anya tells the story of a small village in the French Pyrenees. The scenery is beautiful and you'll feel immersed.

I think many people looking to learn more about the time period will enjoy this film.

I want to give them this movie a four out of five stars except for one thing in the writing that ruins the film. I'm not a Jewish man or raised in any the Jewish faith, but the one thing I knew is that if you were Jewish you are not allowed to do anything with pigs not even touch them there's a verse in the Bible that says it or should I say the tour I'm not sure. :-) It bothers me so much I had to ask the Google if I was right I was pretty confident, but I didn't know for sure I found out that I was not wrong I don't know how they manage to get a past Hollywood with this blaring fact. It was one of the only moments you say to yourself come onnn. Apparently, the writers couldn't do there homework.

Great story, casting and location but the movie just doesn't work. You can clearly see that they put a lot of effort on it and I have to confess that I watched till the end because I was waiting for the momentum when everything makes sense. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. I am amazed by some of the reviews which score the film 10/10 or 9/10. Did we watch the same film?

Courage, humanity, compassion, communities working TOGETHER to save the world one person, one child, one family at a time. Was such a privilege to learn of one village and what they could achieve. Bravo!

Let me explain.

This is not the first movie about WWII in France done ENTIRELY in ENGLISH. And those movies should not have been made. Germans invaded France in 1940 until the americans freed France in 1944. Nothing there (France) happenned in english. Everything was done in french, german and a tiny bit in english when britishs were trying something.

So those english movies sounds so fake for us french! It is like doing a movie about civil war in USA in another language than english! Imagine watching a movie about civil war in USA in... polish, russian, italian or name it.

A zillion WWII movies about germans in France since 1945 has been done but in french! Watch them with subs in your language and you will have the true story.

It sounds so fake in english that i give only one star and i would have give zero if possible. Not that this movie has its good moments but come on, not in english in rural french villages or even Paris. Avoid WWII movies done in english about germans invading France.

English WWII movies can be done beginning with the americans landing in France on june 6, 1944 like Saving Private Ryan or do english movies about the pacific war with the japaneses following Pearl Harbour. That's it!

A civil war movie in turkish maybe... Nonsense! So stop doing english movies about germans invading France from 1940 to 1944. Thank you.

I can see why some might find this movie lacking or unfulfilled if you compare it to a large-scale film, but to me it seems to target a younger audience. Through that lens this film is perfect. It's not particularly violent, obscene, or profane; simple dialogue and plot line make it easily digestible for kids and early teens. Plus, the scenery is beautiful and it has a good message. Don't expect Schindler's List or The Grey Zone - this is not that type of film.

A decent, if not surprising story.

But so many details are marring this movie! Idiotic decisions pile up one after the other, and irk viewers who have even a half-alert brain.

American movie makers seem to think that speaking gutturally passes for French. There's no point doing it when the locality suffices, and it's annoying that this whole movie is spoken like this. Moreover, Angelica Houston should have taken a clue from Jean Reno, who's actually French, and tone way down her guttural speaking.

And why is an old woman feeding pigs in a tiny village high in the Pyrenees in FULL MAKEUP (lipstick very apparent)???

Yet one more gaffe, just from the first 15 min of this movie: people in hiding, sneak back to the village late at night, after curfew, and instead of doing it stealthily, they are singing out loud???

I am no rocket scientist, but any decent person with half a brain should stumble over these ridiculous details.