The Zookeeper's Wife Movie Review

The Zookeeper's Wife is an intense, sometimes-brutal drama based on the true story (which inspired Diane Ackerman's same-named book) of a couple who helped save hundreds of Warsaw Jews during World War II. Jessica Chastain stars as Antonina Zabinski, who, with her husband, Jan (Johan Heldenbergh), turned their zoo into a different kind of sanctuary during the Nazis' occupation of their city. Expect many disturbing scenes of wartime carnage and destruction -- including bombings, battles, explosions, and shootings. A teen girl is raped by Nazi soldiers (the act itself isn't shown, but viewers see her being taken away and then beaten and bloody after the fact). People are executed, animals are shot, and Jews are rounded up in the Warsaw ghetto and later placed on trains bound for concentration camps. There are many moments of tension and fear, but characters also show compassion and courage in the face of tremendous odds. While there's no strong language to worry about, characters do embrace passionately, and sex is implied (a naked breast is briefly seen). There's also a fair amount of smoking (accurate for the era) and drinking.

The film is directed by Niki Caro, She is a director and writer, known for Whale rider (2002), North Country (2005) and McFarland, USA (2015).

WHAT'S THE STORY?
THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE opens in Warsaw in 1939. The Germans are making their presence felt, but life is still filled with joy and a sense of purpose for Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) and her husband, Dr. Jan Zabinski, the keeper of the Warsaw Zoo. Antonina isn't just his devoted spouse; she's also an involved partner in the care and keeping of the animals, many of which adore her. But soon the Zabinskis and their young son must deal with the onslaught of Hitler's Nazis: Warsaw is bombed, and many of the zoo's animals are killed. A former friend-turned-Nazi-zoologist, Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl) claims many of the survivors and proceeds to set up a breeding program at the zoo, while taking a keen interest in Antonina herself. Soon the German troops start rounding Warsaw's Jews up and corralling them in the city's overcrowded ghetto. Jan and Antonina decide that they can't just do nothing while many of their friends are being imprisoned. So they hatch a perilous plan to use the zoo as the front for a resistance that's aimed at shepherding as many Jews as possible out of the ghetto and into freedom.

MOVIE INFO
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements, disturbing images, violence, brief sexuality, nudity and smoking.)
Genre: Drama
Directed By: Niki Caro
Written By: Angela Workman
In theaters: March 31, 2017
Runtime: 124 minutes
Studio: Focus Features
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Daniel Bruhl, Johan Heldenbergh