Always start with the story. This is something movie studios lost their way about generally, relying on cheap CGI tricks to wow the viewer. I don’t always love Angel Studios, but because they lack big studio money they get back to basics and tell compelling human interest tales. Say, perhaps about the youngest resistance fighter executed by the Nazis in Germany? I guess only Disney would make that if Captain America was in it.
That 16 year old seditionist is Helmuth Hubener (Ewan Horrocks). Less physically stout compared to his buddies Karl-Heinz Schnibbe (Ferdinand McKay) and Rudi Wobbe (Daf Thomas), Helmuth has the gift of the pen, writing his way into the youngest employee at Hamburg’s local government offices. But this is 1941, and when bad things start befalling his friend Salomon Schwarz (Nye Occomore), Helmuth is compelled to action. Using the short wave radio his brother brought back from war, Helmuth learns of the propaganda the Nazi party is peddling, and, with the help of the banned books section at work, writes little mini notes on red paper to stir up the populous, which party member Erwin Mussener (Rupert Evans) notices, and starts an investigation into the traitor in the Third Reich’s midst.
Being an Angel production, religion is going to factor in here. It’s use is either the movie’s power or its burden. Truth & Treason turns it not only into a strength…but a surprising one. Helmuth was Mormon, which is addressed here. Within the ranks of the church, there’s a split on Adolf Hitler, and if the church should adhere to the policies of the land. Writer/director Matt Whitaker read the same Bible I did as a kid, pointing out how important it is to question “the truth” and separate religion from politics. So Helmut is driven by this belief, which pushes the plot in motion, becoming the ironclad foundation of the movie. Faith with logic and wit proves to be a potent combination, as Helmuth’s writing sends SS detective Mussener down rabbit holes not expecting a kid to be as gifted an author as he is.
But for as nuanced as Whitaker’s script is, he doesn’t quite have the skills to properly arc Truth & Treason. The movie’s at its best with the battle of wills on paper and tension filled nights delivering the notes, making decent use of shadow and the medieval old town settings. We get little side plots here and there with love interests (Sylvie Varcoe) and Mussener’s family, which unfocus the story enough to neuter the ending just a bit. What we get is rousing and crowd pleasing, but lacks the clever character building and debate used earlier in the movie. The unknown cast really tries to will this thing to greatness, especially Ewan Horrocks as our young Helmuth and Rupert Evans as the Captain Klenzendorf of this film.
In the middle of all the Oscar Bait, it’s nice to see a movie with courage of its own convictions. Truth & Treason has its heart and moral compass in the right place, and delivers an exciting story to boot. It must be the Book of Mormon I guess. No, not THAT one.