This historical drama revolves around the lives of how the two 8-year-old boys experience the horror of a Nazi extermination camp. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is a son of the camp's Nazi commandant and Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) who is a Jewish inmate.
However, this movie received a lot of criticism as to how the events were portrayed. According to some Holocaust educators, there are factual inaccuracies and emphasis on how Nazi German families were treated with greater sympathy in the story, than for the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
: The plot of the movie
A young boy named Bruno lived in Berlin, in Nazi Germany during World War II. Ralf, his father got promoted from his job and so they needed to relocate and transfer to the countryside (Poland). Bruno wonders why they live without neighbors. Their house is far from any of the towns there and so he has no friends to play with.
Curious about how the area looks like, he explores and spotted a farm with many people working and wearing striped suits (which he thinks it is but in reality is a concentration camp). However, his father forbids him from playing in the back garden.
Bruno and his sister's Gretel, have a tutor named Herr Lizst. He teaches them History and Geography which neither of the two learners finds it interesting. He also teaches the antisemitic caricatures of the Third Reich, making Bruno's sister Gretel idolizes Adolf Hitler more covering her bedroom wall with posters and portraits of him. This makes Bruno even more confused as to their servant Pavel, the only known Jew to the family (who is a doctor) does not match to the descriptions of Liszt's teachings.
Days went by and Bruno sneaks into the woods, noticing a barbed wire fence surrounding the entire camp. There, he meets and befriends a boy named Shmuel, the same age as him, sharing their innocent ignorance about the camp's true nature.
Bruno thinks that Shmuel, Pavel, and other people working on the farm or (prisoners in reality) wear pajamas. Shmuel also believes that his grandparents died from an illness while inside the camp.
From then on, friendship was formed and Bruno meets Shmuel regularly, bringing him food and playing board games. Soon, Bruno learns that Shmuel is a Jew whom he was brought together with his father and mother.
Elsa, Bruno's mother soon discovers the reality of her husband's Ralf assignment on the location after a Lieutenant named Kotler, lets it slip the black smoke with a very bad smell coming from the camp's chimneys is because of the burning corpses of Jews. So she confronts Ralf.
Dinner time, when Kotler admits that his father went to Switzerland. Ralf talks to Kotler saying that he should have asked permission and informed the authorities of his disagreement with the current political regime. Pavel accidentally spilled a glass of wine on Kotler's table so he was dragged out of the room and was beaten to death receiving Kotler's embarrassment during the discussion. Bruno witnessed how brutal Kotler's treatment was towards Pavel.
Bruno noticed Shmuel working in his home so as a friend, he offers him a cake. When Kotler saw Bruno and Shmuel socializing, he takes Shmuel forcedly and notices him chewing. Shmuel then explains the Bruno gave it to him but Bruno denied it because he is afraid of Kotler. Shmuel was asked by the Lieutenant to have a "little chat" later.
Full of regret, Brunk cries and decides to apologize to Shmuel but couldn't find him. Bruno went over to see his father watching the fake film together with his co-soldiers, of the prisoners having fun playing games and having meals happily in the cafeteria, enjoying and attending musical concerts.
Bruno was convinced that it was real and hugs his father. Bruno goes back to the fence every day and eventually seeing Shmuel again with a black eye from Kotler's little chat. Bruno apologizes and promises to make it up for Shmuel.
It was after the funeral of Bruno's grandmother after an Allied Bombing in Berlin when Ralf tells Bruno and Gretel suggesting that they will live with a relative where it is safer. When in fact, Elsa does not want her children to witness how brutal their father is with murders.
Shmuel mentioned that his father disappeared after participating in a march. So Bruno decides to help Shmuel find his father as a way of redeeming himself to the friendship. He gets a prisoner's outfit (striped pajamas and cap) to cover his unshaven head. Bruno digs under the fence enough for him to pass through.
He is shocked to see the reality inside the camp. There were many sick and weak-looking Jews, and the boys were included and taken on a march with the other inmates by Sonderkommandos.
At the house, Elsa and Gretel discover Bruno's disappearance. So Elsa hurriedly informs her husband about Bruno. Ralf sent men to look for Bruno. A dog tracks Bruno's scent leaning towards the fence where Bruno's clothes and shoes were taken off.
Meanwhile, the boys together with the inmates are taken to a changing room and were ordered to remove their clothes for a "shower". Not knowing that they are all packed into a gas chamber, as a Schutzstaffel soldier pours Zyklon B pellets inside, and the prisoners begin shouting and panicking.
As soon as Ralf realizes that gassing is already taking place, he pauses with worry on his face and cries out Bruno's name with grief and despair. Elsa and Gretel could hear Ralf's scream from afar with sadness on their faces.
The film ends by showing the silent gas chamber closing its door indicating that all of the prisoners there including Bruno and Shmuel are burned to death.
This is not based on a true story as it is inspired by a novel only. However, this is such a tragic film. Everything that happened was because of Ralf. If they could have been honest and compassionate, it would not happen to Bruno. Still, it was how Adolf Hitler manipulated the people after all 💔
: Here's the trailer
The book was much more nakakaiyak than the movie tbh because the feels are way too strong compared to the movie