I’ve recently had the urge to go to the theater again. My first choice was Frankenstein, but it wasn’t showing anywhere nearby, and the few places that did have it only offered one evening show around 6:30 or 7:30. So I looked up the latest Leonardo DiCaprio film, which also wasn’t playing close by.
Instead, I chose a movie based purely on its poster: Truth in Treason, by a company called Angel Studios. I went in knowing only that it was based on a true story from World War II, a time in history that has always fascinated me.
The film follows a 16-year-old boy in Germany who initially believes in the “motherland prophecy.” A friend secretly gives him an illegal radio, and through BBC broadcasts, his view of Hitler and the war begins to change. He later gets a job as a writer and gains access to banned books locked away in the basement.
Inspired by their ideas, he starts crafting anti-Hitler messages, written in a similar literary style, and types them on small red cards that he and his two friends distribute in mailboxes and on car windshields.
As expected, the authorities soon begin hunting for the author. His writing is so articulate and informed that they assume it must be the work of a university professor. They analyze each typewritten letter, launching a desperate search for the typewriter itself. I’ll leave it there, but it was well done.
It was refreshing to finally see a new film that wasn’t trash. My only complaint, and I realize this is a stylistic choice, is that it’s shot dark with dark tones: browns, tans, and grays. Maybe it’s just age catching up with my eyes, but I found it hard to see at times.
I took my 21-year-old son with me, and he was told me he was tired during the trailers. A dark drama has to be exceptional to keep a tired viewer awake, and this one did. By the end, he told me he really liked the film and told me about the scenes stuck with him.
It’s expensive to go out to the movies these days, and most of the time you leave feeling robbed. Not this time. I felt I got my money’s worth.
What we need more movies like this in today’s film world, more stories like this, well written, well acted, and meaningful. Sometimes having unfamiliar actors in roles helps suspend disbelief and truly sink into the story.
We always had the pop flicks and silly comedies for the teenagers, but at least back in the day, even those were well done.
This film was very good.
C 2025 Chu The Cud
Chu The Cud 