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.
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Ralph Fiennes
Michael Berg
Kate Winslet
Hanna Schmitz
David Kross
Young Michael Berg
Lena Olin
Rose Mather
Bruno Ganz
Professor Rohl
Jeanette Hain
Brigitte
Hannah Herzsprung
Julia
Karoline Herfurth
Marthe
Volker Bruch
Dieter Spenz
Alexandra Maria Lara
Young Ilana Mather
Director
Stephen Daldry
Screenplay
David Hare
Tagline
"Behind the mystery lies a truth that will make you question everything you know."
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
Budget
$32,000,000
Revenue
$108,902,486
Production
The Weinstein Company, Mirage Enterprises, Studio Babelsberg
CinemaSerf
June 6, 2022
David Kross is really effective in this tale of a young boy ("Michael") who encounters "Hanna" (Kate Winslet) as he shelters in her doorway from a rainstorm. In fairly short order, this fifteen year old boy becomes her lover; in return she gets him to read to her. He is soon infatuated and devastated when he turns up at her apartment one day to find her gone. Skip on thirty years or so and he - no...
badelf
May 23, 2023
I didn't turn this movie off after the beautiful sex scenes only because two others were watching it with me. The mere fact that "Germans" were speaking English totally destroyed the whole "suspend disbelief" for me. This film is an awful rendition by Brits of an award-winning German book. Perhaps, only someone from the Nachgeborenen (to coin Bertolt Brecht's meaning of German post-Holocaust gener...
Alunauwie
September 30, 2025
The Reader blends a controversial romance with post-war German guilt, presenting a layered, emotional story carried by powerful performances and thoughtful direction. Despite some logical gaps, the film succeeds in portraying personal and societal struggles through its characters' trauma and secrets. It’s a compelling watch for those drawn to slow-burning dramas with moral complexity. Read the ...
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