A film guaranteed to leave you weeping and wailing has landed on Amazon Prime Video.
Released in 2008, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas shows war from the gut-wrenching, innocent perspective of a child as eight-year-old boys Bruno (Asa Butterfield) and Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) strike up a forbidden friendship.
Set during World War II, Bruno moves with his parents and sister from Berlin to a new home by a concentration camp, where his father (David Thewlis) has just become the commandant.
As the youngster wanders off out of boredom, unbeknownst to his family, Bruno grows close with the Jewish boy behind the barbed-wire fence, visiting him frequently without a clue about what’s truly happening on what he believes is a ‘farm.’
Their special bond ultimately has devastating consequences, and it’s safe to say the movie’s final twist packs a real punch.
Despite being released almost 20 years ago, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas remains a hugely popular, albeit divisive, film.
Based on John Boyne’s book of the same name, it is often shown in schools to offer students an emotional insight into the Holocaust and generate discussions.
However, despite receiving generally positive reviews for its emotional storytelling upon its initial release, it also garnered criticism for ‘misrepresenting’ and ‘trivialising’ elements of war.
But now you can decide for yourself, as the 94-minute historical drama is available to stream.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has a 65% rating overall from critics on review platform Rotten Tomatoes, while viewers have scored it 85%.
Among the feedback, Richard Crouse writes that it will ‘take your breath away,’ while Mike Massie says ‘this is a film that cannot be easily forgotten.’
‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas may very well be 2008’s most important family film [sic],’ says Richard Propes.
‘Even in its lighter moments, the picture never downplays the horror of the situation, and the devastating ending is potent enough to affect even those viewers who write it off as nothing more than a sensationalist stunt,’ argues Matt Brunson.
‘A movie so horrific it haunts your dreams but so fascinating you can’t turn your eyes away from it,’ Jackie K. Cooper pens.
In contrast, though, some suggest that the plot is ‘too manufactured’ and ‘gimmicky’.
Since it was released, there’s no denying that child actor Asa, now 28, has forged a successful career for himself.
He was 10 when he made The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, with director Mark Herman saying they came across him early on in the audition process.
In the years since, he’s appeared in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and, most famously, took the lead in Netflix series Sex Education, starring opposite Gillian Anderson.
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As for Jack, the now 26-year-old lives a quieter life.
Both he and co-star Asa were nominated for the Young Artist Awards thanks to their performances in the movie, with Jack going on to star in the BBC miniseries Runaway in 2009.
He remained close friends with Asa after the pair were plucked from obscurity to star in what would become a hit film; however, Jack no longer acts.
Watch The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas on Amazon Prime Video.
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