Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. | 2024 | PG-13 | – 1.5.3

Why is “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violent content, thematic elements and some smoking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a kiss on the cheek, dancing in a jazz club, a man being hanged, a man being shot as he runs away, a discussion about a man being hanged, people being held in cells in a concentration camp, a man being beaten in a few scenes, many discussions of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, an assassination plot, discussions of faith, many arguments, and some strong language and name-calling. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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When a young German Lutheran pastor and pacifist (Jonas Dassler) learns of the atrocities overtaking his home, he joins the efforts of a resistance group to attempt Adolf Hitler’s assassination. Also with Phileas Heyblom, August Diehl, David Jonsson, Flula Borg, Moritz Bleibtreu, Nadine Heidenreich, Greg Kolpakchi, William Robinson, Clarke Peters and James Flynn. Directed by Todd Komarnicki. [Running Time: 2:12]

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. SEX/NUDITY 1

 – Men and women dance in a jazz club. A husband kisses his wife on the cheek as SS guards arrive at his house to take him away (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► Women dancing in a jazz club wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage in a few scenes.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A man’s hands are tied behind his back and he is led to gallows where he stands on a board and another man places a noose around his neck; the screen goes black and we hear rope and wood creaking and understand that the man has been hanged.
► A Black man enters a hotel and asks the man at reception for a room, the man behind the counter tells him there are no rooms and to leave, and he replies that he will be staying with his friend who just registered for a room; the man behind the counter picks up a shotgun from behind the desk, yells abusive language at them, and punches one man and hits him in the face with the gun butt (we see his bloody face). A man is struck in the face with a gun butt and he falls to his knees. A man punches another man twice.
► Bombs fall outside a concentration camp barracks and the walls crumble; the men in cells inside get out and contemplate their escape; one man runs to the end of a road and he is shot dead (we do not see blood), and the rest are held at gunpoint.
► People discuss a plan to assassinate Hitler and we see a man strapped with explosives and a detonator is set as Hitler arrives, but leaves before the detonation; the man scrambles to remove the explosives and is unharmed.
► A husband kisses his wife on the cheek as SS guards arrive at his house to take him away; the man’s young son pleads for him not to leave and the child and his mother watch as the man is driven away in the dark; another man in the house is punched in the abdomen and the house is searched and set on fire by the remaining SS guards. Men on a bus are driven by armed guards and the bus stops when we see a bridge has been bombed out; we hear more bombs falling and the men duck behind the seats in fear. Men on a bus drive past mounds of dirt with human skulls and skeletons scattered around in them as they enter a concentration camp where they are led to cells and locked in. Two men drive on a road at night and stop when they see Gestapo nearby; they walk through a dark forest to avoid being seen. A man yells and throws things off tables in anger.
► People talk about Jews being targeted for elimination and we see newsreel footage of people in camps emaciated and dying. People talk about a man being lynched in Indiana. A man tells another man, “Hate comes in every color.” People talk about a movement planning to “dispose of people with mental disabilities.” We read that 6 million Jews were murdered in Nazi Germany. We read that Adolf Hitler committed suicide at the end of the war. A man describes losing all his money gambling and being drawn into a Baptist revival tent and meeting the Lord.
► A Bishop preaches about Adolf Hitler being a prophet and savior and others become upset about him being revered as a god. Two men argue about Adolf Hitler and the church of Germany. A minister preaches to a church with many Nazis in attendance about the hypocrisy of their presence and insisting that the church is a place of power; several people leave the sermon. A young man is taken to enlist in the army and his father tells him he will return a hero; we then see the young man dead and in a coffin as mourners grieve at his funeral.
► A man has a bloody wound on his face and another man cleans and bandages it. A young boy runs away from an older boy (playfully) and the older boy says, “I’ll eat you for dinner” as the younger boy insists that he is invisible.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. LANGUAGE 3

 – 2 mild obscenities, 2 derogatory terms for African-American people, name-calling (boredom, liar, cheat, sinner, cocky, loudmouths, devil, animals, sycophants, paranoia, Jewish weakness, hypocrites, wicked, reckless), 5 religious exclamations (e.g. thank God, Amen in a church service, what if God fails you this one last time, he’s not bigger than God, devil, God asked us to come to a party). | profanity glossary |

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. SUBSTANCE USE

 – People drink in a few jazz club scenes, people drink beer in several café scenes, people drink glasses of brandy in a home, people drink wine with a meal, and men drink beers and smoke cigarettes in a few scenes. A man smokes a cigarette in bed and shares it with his adult sister.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Adolf Hitler’s rise, Nazi Germany, the SS, Kristallnacht, concentration camps, destiny, swearing allegiance to the Fuhrer, Winston Churchill, bravery, truth, courage, Buchenwald, Hitler Youth, Pinocchio, hate, jealousy, faith, rumors, rage, excommunication, Jews, Communists, Nationalists.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. MESSAGE

 – The way to beat a liar is to lie better than he does. Faith without action is no faith at all and silence in the face of evil is itself evil.