Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Todd Komarnicki directs. John Mathieson behind the camera. Gabriel Ferreira scores. Blu Murray cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Belgium, Ireland. Dialogue in German, English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Earned back only 49% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 2Released 2 years ago.
• 3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, English, French.
• 4International production across 2 countries: Belgium, Ireland.
• 5222+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 6Directed by Todd Komarnicki, shot by John Mathieson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by Gabriel Ferreira. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Blu Murray shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9Jonas Dassler and Phileas Heyblom and August Diehl carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "In an impossible time, it takes impossible courage.".
• 11IMDB entry: tt26237514 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 12Only 88 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 13Classified under 15 themes, including "assassin", "based on true story", "moral courage", "tyranny".

The technical file

Cinematography

John Mathieson

Original score

Gabriel Ferreira

Editing

Blu Murray

Production design

John Beard

Makeup / hair

Clarisse Domine

VFX supervisor

Garrett Honn

Stunt coordinator

Olivier Bisback

Runtime

132 min · 2h 12m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$25,000,000

Box office

$12,165,702

Return

49% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (2024) ↗

Also by

Todd Komarnicki

• 
  Resistance

  2003 · ★ 5.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  'Bonhoeffer' With Todd Komarnicki, Clarke Peters, and Blu Murray | Academy Conversations

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Teaser

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Brent Marchant2024-12-01
  ★ 4/10

  Heroes come in many forms, and, regrettably, they often go unrecognized for their efforts, which is why movies honoring them for their accomplishments can be so vitally important, particularly in attempts at correcting the oversight of being overlooked. However, when it comes to writer-director Todd Komarnicki’s cinematic tribute to Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) (Jonas Dassler), a little-recognized German theologian who was sharply critical of the Nazis’ treatment of Jews and imprisoned dissidents during World War II, that noble goal goes largely unfulfilled. To be perfectly honest, this film is dreadfully dull, relying on a lot of preaching and protracted conversations to carry the narrative, not exactly what I would call engaging and compelling viewing. Indeed, if Bonhoeffer was supposedly so influential in spearheading German resistance against the Third Reich and criticism of Germany’s national church for its silence toward and complicity with Adolf Hitler’s policies, his initiatives, at least as portrayed here, aren’t particularly enlightening or instructive. To make matters worse, the picture’s flashback-oriented approach alternating between Bonhoeffer’s final days and events from his past lends little to telling his story, occasionally causing pivotal developments in his life to become more muddled than enlightening. Perhaps this production’s biggest sin, however, is its alleged tampering with the facts, including events that never took place, others whose content was significantly altered and still more for which there are only vague suggestions about their validity but for which substantial proof is lacking. The result is a release where viewers might easily come away from it not knowing what to believe given its fabrications, alterations and lack of coherence. That’s even apparent in the title, whose qualities attributed to the protagonist could be considered specious, at least when it comes to his supposed role as spy and assassin. To its credit, though, there are moments when Bonhoeffer’s outspoken views are presented through powerfully delivered statements (though the same could also readily be said of the words of some of his peers), but they’re too few and far between for my tastes. In addition, Bonhoeffer’s prolific career as a writer goes largely unnoticed, reducing his 34 volumes of work to little more than a footnote and a few passing references. It’s truly sad to see a film that gets things wrong as badly as this one does, especially when it comes to recognizing the work of someone who is said to have had as much impact as he did. Unfortunately, the oversights here continue.

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2025-03-12
  ★ 6/10

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler) is a pacifist pastor who is furious at the acquiescence of the German church with the rise of the Naziism and the establishment of the puppet “Reichskirche”. Unlike many, though, he is prepared to use his position in the pulpit and preach to anyone who will listen of the folly of this plan. Needless to say, this doesn’t go down well and so he has to spend a lot of time out of the country whilst many of those left behind fall victim to persecution. That absence has it’s uses, though, as he hopes to galvanise opinion in both the USA and the UK - a task all the harder when his forebodings fall largely on deaf or unwilling ears. It’s when his colleagues come up with a plan to assassinate their Führer that the threads of his multi-timeline story and his life start to come together and we realise just how perilous his position is when he finally returns to his homeland. The is a true story of a man who dared to fight back in the face of overwhelming odds, indifference and fear - but sadly I just found Dassler didn’t, well, dazzle. Even at his most animated, his characterisation was underwhelming and contributory to this looking more like a high-end television movie rather than an enlightening story of courage and, to a certain extent, faith. The ensemble cast do well enough, but again there isn’t really an anchor role to give it the necessary gravitas either within the church, or amongst his allies. Even Churchill is presented as lacklustre. Bonhoeffer was a jazz lover and that does give us an excuse to indulge in the odd bit of toe-tapping, and the whole story is a savage indictment of complicity when the state gets up on it’s hind legs and mobilises the militia and the militant, but this disappointed, sorry.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• CR

  Crow's Nest Productions

  IE

• FO

  Fontana

  BE

Key crew

• Executive ProducerMark O'Sullivan
• Co-ProducerJonathan T. Coleman
• Hair Department HeadClarisse Domine
• Co-ProducerChristophe Mazodier
• Executive ProducerJohn B. Scanlon
• Line ProducerGrainne Carroll
• ProducerTodd Komarnicki
• Co-ProducerValérie Lardinois
• Production ExecutiveMax Hatfield
• Associate ProducerThomas Bassett
• Executive ProducerVivienne De Courcy
• Executive ProducerRichard Caleel
• Co-ProducerChloe Kassis-Crowe
• Executive ProducerSarada McDermott
• Co-ProducerJean-Jacques Neira
• Supervising Art DirectorConor Dennison
• Makeup SupervisorMadlen Mierzwiak
• Production ManagerLaurent Hanon
• PainterVincianne Gouders
• Line ProducerWilliam Pruss
• Property BuyerFlavio Capetola
• Third Assistant DirectorJeanne Diligent
• Second Assistant DirectorMichael Pontvert
• CastingJohn Hubbard

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• assassin
• based on true story
• moral courage
• tyranny
• historical drama
• 1940s
• christian film
• nazi germany
• independent film
• theologian
• pastor spy
• public opposition
• pacifism conflict
• wartime oppression
• resistance network

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2024-11-20PG-13
• Theatrical2024-11-22PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• God's SpyUS
• A Redenção – A História Real de BonhoefferBR
• Bonhoeffer, el espíaES