Film Review: ‘Plan A’: An Intense Holocaust Drama Offering No Easy Answers

Max (August Diehl) wants to return to his home and locate his missing wife and son in "Plan A." Getaway Pictures

NR | 1h 49min | Drama, Thriller, History, War | 14 October 2022 (USA)

As “Plan A” makes clear, the wellspring of World War II tales seems bottomless. For over 75 years, studios and filmmakers have unearthed one little-known factual story after another and with few exceptions, the resulting films deepen our knowledge and understanding of what is arguably the darkest period mankind has ever known.

Max (August Diehl) wants to hunt SS operatives in "Plan A." Getaway Pictures

The movie wastes no time in roping us in by posing this question via voice-over: “What if I told you that your family was murdered for no reason at all? Now, ask yourself, what would you do?”

This same statement is repeated in the last five minutes and in between, by the characters and, by proxy, we the audience, are presented with two choices. Do they intend to take “an eye for an eye” or recognize that “living well is the best revenge?”

Not a Warm Homecoming

Forget living well; merely remaining upright and above ground is a major victory for Max (August Diehl). Having recently escaped from a Nazi death camp, all Max wants to do is return to his home in the German countryside and locate his missing wife and son. When he gets there he meets the man who has annexed his property and who then knocks Max senseless with the butt of a rifle.

While squatting at a burned-out synagogue, Max crosses paths with Michael (Michael Aloni, “When Heroes Fly”), the commander of a small but driven band of soldiers known as the “Jewish Brigade.” Ostensibly overseen by the British Army, the brigade combs the country seeking to ferret out SS operatives and executing them without quarter, something that appeals to the increasingly resentful Max.

It is only after relentless pleading by Max that Michael permits him to join the brigade but, when push comes to shove, Max can’t quite bring himself to kill someone in cold blood. About to meet his own end, Max is saved by Anna (Sylvia Hoecks, “Blade Runner 2049,” “The Girl in the Spider’s Web”), a member of the paramilitary outfit “Nakam” led by Abba Kovener (Ishai Golan, “The Golem”). The English translation of the Hebrew “Nakam” is “revenge.”

Anna (Sylvia Hoeks) talks with Max (August Diehl) about taking revenge for the Holocaust in "Plan A." Getaway Pictures

Not long after the British withdrew their support, Nakam splinters and devises a scorched-earth plan to expand their revenge far beyond former Nazis to the entire population of Germany, who they feel were guilty for doing nothing to stop the genocide of the Jews. Their new mantra becomes: “six million for six million.”

Kovener’s (the film’s only non-fictional, non-composite character) new strategy involved putting a tasteless, odorless, virtually-undetectable liquid poison into the water supplies of Germany’s 10 biggest cities, including Nuremberg, where Max and Anna pose as non-Jew water treatment workers.

No Frills Filmmaking

Israeli writer-director brothers Doron and Yoav Paz (“Jeruzalem,” “Phobidilia”) present their narrative with measured but intense balance. There are no grandiose monologues, exaggerated, or overblown action sequences, or any type of self-aware, sleight-of-hand photography.

In tandem with cinematographer Moshe Mishali, the Pazs present a fittingly bleak color palate which is what one would expect to see in an area where a five-year-long world war just ended. The score by Tal Yardeni is appropriately subdued, unobtrusive, and provides accent only where it is needed.

In both content and plot, the Yaz’s screenplay bears more than a passing resemblance to director Edward Zwick’s 2008 “Defiance” starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber as real-life Hungarian Jewish brothers who fought the Nazis guerilla-style.

There are also similarities between “Plan A” and Steven Spielberg’s 2005 “Munich,” the non-fiction story of five Israelis who plotted revenge against the Fedayeen, the Palestinian fighters that were part of the Black September Organization (BSO). The 1972 BSO terrorist attack claimed the lives of 11 Jews at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Those familiar with Quentin Tarantino films will immediately recognize the thematic overlap between “Plan A” and his 2009 revisionist masterpiece “Inglourious Basterds,” starring Brad Pitt as the leader of a band of Jewish American soldiers charged with assassinating Nazis.

Ironically (or maybe not), Diehl also appeared in “Inglourious Basterds” as stone-cold Nazi officer Dieter Hellstrom who blows the title character’s cover.

Needless to say, Max and Dieter are worlds apart in every possible way. Looking like a cross between early ‘90s Christopher Walken and Hugh Grant after an all-night bender, Diehl displays a level of range here few other actors could even imagine pulling off.

“Plan A” is a wrenching, emotional gut-punch that will linger in your head, heart, and soul long after the end credits have finished and asks serious questions about revenge.

Poster for “Plan A” tells the story of a group of Jews who plan to eradicate the population of Germany. (Getaway Pictures)

‘Plan A’ Directors: Doron Paz, Yoav Paz Stars: August Diehl, Sylvia Hoecks, Michael Aloni, Ishai Golan Running Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes MPAA Rating: Not Rated Release Date: Oct. 14, 2022 Rating: 4 out of 5