Black Book

R

Released Apr 4, 2007

2 hr. 24 min.

War

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

77%

159 Reviews

Tomatometer

87%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After narrowly escaping death, young Rachel Rosenthal (Carice van Houten) becomes part of the Jewish resistance, assuming the name Ellis de Vries. Her superiors order her to seduce a Gestapo officer named Ludwig (Sebastian Koch). Ellis is successful in her mission but soon finds herself falling in love with her mortal enemy.

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Critics Consensus

A furious mix of sex, violence, and moral relativism, Black Book is shamelessly entertaining melodrama.

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Mark N

This film just happened to come on the TV when I didn't really have time or energy to watch, but after a few minutes, I couldn't leave it. I waited for a point in the film where I could make a conclusion, switch off and go to bed, but the moment never came. The plot keeps developing with new twists and turns. Totally captivating. I really enjoyed it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/06/24

Full Review

Trixie M

The story was really absorbing; the actors were all perfectly in their roles; the action was excellent and, at times, horrifying. It seemed to have everything that real life offers. Left me feeling 'how on earth could one person survive with so much mental pain'.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/12/23

Full Review

Gareth v

Verhoeven loves to turn it up a notch even when not required as he has done yet again here on this WWII movie set in his homeland. Enjoyable enough.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Seamlessly blending the ordinary with the extraordinary, and the thrilling with the chilling, this war movie delivers drama from start to finish, with thanks to the exceptional talents of van Houten and Koch. as well as the vision of Verhoeven. It's not flawless, but it is worthy of your time. It certainly didn't feel as long as its 2h 26m runtime

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

keith w

This is one of my favourite movie genres but I found the spaghetti junction nature of all the double crosses, the unpleasant graphic scenes and gratuitous violence not to my taste. I think the actors in this were better than their material.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

samuel l

The story was unserious, unbelievable, unemotional, and predictable, with an awful ending. The chocolate foreshadowing was painful. There was unnecessary nudity to the point that the film was trying to be a porno. The characters were almost all unlikeable, and many could have been developed better, but the acting was reasonable. The gory action was entertaining, but it only made up a small portion of the film, with the runtime being too lengthy. The cinematography, editing, and visual effects were average, the sets/props/costumes were fine, and the soundtrack was forgettable but fit.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Paul Verhoeven

Director

Carice van Houten

Rachel

Sebastian Koch

Ludwig Muntze

Thom Hoffman

Hans Akkermans

Halina Reijn

Ronnie

Waldemar Kobus

Gunther Franken

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Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

Rated: 5/5

Nov 16, 2011

Full Review

Cliff Doerksen

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 16, 2011

Full Review

Claudia Puig

USA Today

A hard-core war film with raw violence, intense action, graphic sexuality and a twisting plot that offers a series of surprises.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 1, 2007

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Verhoeven cleverly avoids conventional wartime good-guy vs. bad-guy storytelling [...] asserting that war makes people do things that may not be correct or righteous, but are compulsory to survival.

Rated: 4/4

Mar 8, 2024

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... a riveting World War II resistance thriller with a runaway pace and a gripping sense of peril.

Jan 7, 2023

Full Review

Leigh Paatsch

Herald Sun (Australia)

A genuinely epic war drama.

Sep 8, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

After narrowly escaping death, young Rachel Rosenthal (Carice van Houten) becomes part of the Jewish resistance, assuming the name Ellis de Vries. Her superiors order her to seduce a Gestapo officer named Ludwig (Sebastian Koch). Ellis is successful in her mission but soon finds herself falling in love with her mortal enemy.

Director: Paul Verhoeven
Executive Producer: Andreas Grosch, Andrea Schmid, Marcus Schoefer, Henning Molfenter
Screenwriter: Paul Verhoeven, Gerard Soeteman
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: CoBo Fund, Motion Investment Group, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Le Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral de Belgique, Studio Babelsberg, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Egoli Tossell Film, VIP 4 Medienfonds, Umedia, uFilm
Rating: R (Language|Graphic Nudity|Sexuality|Some Strong Violence)
Genre: War, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Dutch
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 4, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.4M
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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