The Reader
2008 · 2h 4m · Drama, Romance
Watch it tonight if you're in the mood for something heavy and morally complex—this is a haunting exploration of complicity, shame, and the impossibility of redemption that will stick with you long after the credits roll. It's anchored by powerhouse performances and tackles WWII guilt from an angle you won't see coming, so don't skip it just because there are no scores.
Plot
The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.
Director: Stephen Daldry
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz
