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In Darkness

Play trailer Poster for In Darkness R 2012 2h 25m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 114 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz) is a sewer worker in Nazi-occupied Lvov, Poland. When he finds a group of Jews hiding in the sewers, Leopold agrees to protect them from the Nazis in exchange for money, even though it could mean his death if they are found. Though he is solely motivated by cash at first, their experiences lead Leopold to adopt a different view of the people under his protection. When catastrophe strikes, Leopold is forced into a final act of courage.
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In Darkness

Critics Reviews

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Alison Willmore The Playlist 03/11/2014
A-
Holland's film is extraordinarily generous with its characters in ways that take the story beyond being a historical fable of altruism and endurance. Go to Full Review
Michael Brooke Sight & Sound 03/11/2014
Though the film's factual basis dictates an upbeat ending, much of the journey is appropriately and memorably grim. Go to Full Review
Donald Clarke Irish Times 03/19/2012
3/5
Holland does root around in some grubby, previously unexplored corners, but the film never quite breaks free from that conventional structure. Go to Full Review
Giuseppe Sedia Kino Mania 11/20/2023
4/5
In Holland’s vision [the sewers] are a filthy and nauseating maze where hope goes to die. When it comes to the escape through stairwells and channels, Holland’s long takes are every bit as sharp and enveloping as Kathryn Bigelow’s point-of-view shots. Go to Full Review
Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies 08/22/2022
3.5/5
It also celebrates the will to live even in the face of the worst adversities and reminds us that even a simple sewer worker can have a monumental effect on the lives of others. Go to Full Review
David Bax Battleship Pretension 03/16/2021
...the disappointing part comes a bit too late for the film to recover from it. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Tim G 12/04/2022 More than one-note characters made this compelling. See more 02/26/2020 As I’ve been watching more and more films in the last decade, I’ve seen a lot of movies about WWII, and more than my fair share focusing specifically on Jews hiding from the Nazis. In Darkness is yet another of those, and as always, the movie is bleak and difficult to watch. That’s not to say it is a bad movie. I was certainly engaged by the sewer worker who risked his own life in order to save a handful of Jews. It has a nice arc to the story, because he starts out reluctant (driven only by greed) and we get to see how that changes over time. However, aside from the fact that this felt a bit like more of the same to me, there are some definite flaws in the story construction of this film. For one thing, in the mass hysteria of all the Jews fleeing and arguing who will be saved, it is way too dark and confusing. Among the chaos, I lost all track of who was who, and how any of them were related. This hurt the story because I wasn’t forming that kind of personal connection with the individuals and I wanted to get closer to them emotionally. There were also some subplots that were needless distractions that didn’t influence the story enough to warrant inclusion in the film. In Darkness is a powerful movie because it deals with a weighty subject matter, and shows us the true story of how hard it was to survive the Holocaust. While I fully appreciate it as a film, it didn’t measure up to others I’ve seen in the genre, and it’s certainly not one I feel the need to revisit. See more 04/08/2019 A decent 'based on a true story' WWII drama, but really this doesn't deliver anything new to the viewer. I've no idea if the characters portrayed were closely based on the genuine people involved but the strength in the film at least lies in their depiction. The film itself is only ever passingly interesting and fails to deliver much tension or emotion for me. See more 10/04/2018 A harrowing and haunting retelling. See more 03/04/2017 Yet another contribution to the unrelenting horror that was the second world war for many, but effectively told, with only occasional lapses into convenient symbolism. See more 08/21/2016 Shot almost entirely in the titular setting, Agnieszka Holland's Academy Award-nominated Holocaust film tells a harrowing and moving survival story about a clan of Polish Jews living like sewer rats in a Nazi-occupied town with the help of a Catholic sewer worker and petty thief. See more Read all reviews
In Darkness

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Movie Info

Synopsis Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz) is a sewer worker in Nazi-occupied Lvov, Poland. When he finds a group of Jews hiding in the sewers, Leopold agrees to protect them from the Nazis in exchange for money, even though it could mean his death if they are found. Though he is solely motivated by cash at first, their experiences lead Leopold to adopt a different view of the people under his protection. When catastrophe strikes, Leopold is forced into a final act of courage.
Director
Agnieszka Holland
Producer
Steffen Reuter, Patrick Knippel, Marc-Daniel Dichant, Leander Carell, Juliusz Machulski, Paul Stephens, Eric Jordan
Screenwriter
David F. Shamoon
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
The Film Works
Rating
R (Language|Disturbing Images|Nudity|Sexuality|Violence)
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
Polish
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 10, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 12, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.0M
Runtime
2h 25m
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