Truth & Treason

Rated PG-13 • Theaters

WWII Holocaust movies are having a comeback, with last year’s White Bird and Bonhoeffer and this year’s Triumph of the Heart and Nuremberg. Angel Studios’ newest film, Truth & Treason, follows the trend, asking the ever-relevant question of how one stands up to evil.

The film follows the real-life story of Helmuth Hübener, a 16-year-old boy who secretly distributes anti-Nazi pamphlets in Nazi Germany and who becomes the youngest resistance figure executed under Hitler.

Truth & Treason does everything expected of it. It depicts the rise of the Nazis, and we see a hero who watches that rise and decides he must act. We also see the cost he pays. But what sets it apart is how well it puts the viewer in Helmuth’s shoes and intimately shares his experience with the audience. We see Helmuth as an ordinary boy with his friends—then we see the moment their Jewish friend is taken, and they become motivated to fight.

The film explores the religious convictions of its good and bad characters. Helmuth’s bishop argues Christians must obey their rulers, while Helmuth argues they must obey Jesus’ command to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” The movie portrays Helmuth’s Christianity as the right version of the faith.

But as the film continues, it becomes formulaic. The climax is guilty of contrived sentimentality, as Helmuth gets the chance in court to give an inspiring speech that his enemies could have, and probably would have, stopped.

It’s sad that tales about those who stand up against injustice at great cost remain timely. Truth & Treason doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it effectively reminds audiences why truth is worth dying for.