The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008) movie poster

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)

"Lines may divide us, but hope will unite us."
ThumbScore
👍 93%Google users liked it ⓘ
Critics Score
🎬 60%
DramaWarHistory

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Where to Watch

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Director
Runtime
1h 34m
Rated
PG-13
Country
United Kingdom, United States of America
Language
English
TMDB Rating
7.8/10 (7,572 votes)
Rotten Tomatoes
65%
Metacritic
55

Cast

Asa Butterfield as Bruno · 66% avg
Vera Farmiga as Mother · 71% avg
David Thewlis as Father · 70% avg
Jack Scanlon as Shmuel
Amber Beattie as Gretel
Rupert Friend as Lieutenant Kotler · 66% avg
David Hayman as Pavel · 73% avg
Sheila Hancock as Grandma

Is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas good?

Yes. 93% of real audiences liked it, by Google's archived audience score. Critics scored it lower at 60%, but audiences disagreed.

Where it ranks on ThumbScore

Rank in its genre
#36 / 3335 · Drama
Rank in its year
#3 / 208 · 2008

By audience score, among films with 500 or more votes.

Overview

When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls. Wikipedia ↗

About the Film

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2008 British historical drama directed by Mark Herman, based on John Boyne's 2006 novel. The film follows eight-year-old Bruno, the son of a Nazi commandant who has been reassigned to oversee a concentration camp. Innocent and unaware of the Holocaust, Bruno befriends Shmuel, a Jewish boy the same age imprisoned behind the camp's electrified fence.

Their forbidden friendship develops through the barrier, with Bruno bringing food and playing games while remaining ignorant of the horror surrounding his new friend. The film's devastating power came from its presentation of the Holocaust through the eyes of a child too young to understand what he is seeing — Bruno perceives the camp inmates in their striped uniforms as wearing "pyjamas" and playing a strange game. The film's final sequence was among the most harrowing endings in Holocaust cinema.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas earned $44 million worldwide on a $12 million budget.

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