Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.

image for Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.

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Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 13 (violence, scary scenes, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.
  • a review of Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 18 March 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes and themes.
Children aged 12–13 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and themes.
Children aged 14 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes and violence
Length: 132 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler) was a young boy when his older brother Walther (Patrick Molleken) went off to fight in the First World War and didn’t return. Dietrich was a highly spirited boy but also very religious. When he was old enough, Dietrich left Germany and went to New York, to theological college. There, he befriended Frank (David Fisher) who introduced Dietrich to the world of jazz and black gospel music. This had a great influence on Dietrich, who saw Frank’s church as truly living Christianity.

Dietrich returned to Germany to find the Nazis had taken power and were starting to round up the Jews. Dietrich was deeply opposed to this and to the fact that the German church was supporting the Nazis. Dietrich caused a split in the church and went on to join the resistance movement. He became instrumental in the first assassination attempt on Hitler, which, as a Christian, he struggled with but determined it was the right thing to do. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings had a great influence on Christian doctrine, not only in Germany but worldwide and to this day.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

WWII; Moral struggle; Nazi Germany; Genocide; Racism.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Many depictions of war scenes – soldiers with rifles – bombs exploding – shootings etc.
  • An abusive hotelier points a rifle at Dietrich and Frank and shouts insults. He spits at and hits Dietrich across the head with his rifle.
  • Nazi soldiers smash statues in a church and replace crosses with Nazi flags.
  • A member of the resistance is shot dead.
  • Dietrich is punched in the stomach by Nazi soldiers on several occasions.
  • The Gestapo orders his men to take whatever they want, then burn a house to the ground.
  • Dietrich lashes out in frustration and smashes several objects in his room.
  • A man wears a suicide vest to blow up Hitler but the bomb doesn’t go off.
  • Dietrich is led to the gallows with his hands tied behind his back. He is then hung for his role in the attempted assassination plot.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • Many dark scenes of soldiers and war.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Many scenes of soldiers marching with rifles and dogs barking.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • Dietrich and a group of men are taken prisoner in a bus. They all hide when they hear an explosion. The Nazi soldiers are very intimidating and yell at the men.
  • Walther says goodbye to his sisters and brothers and his Mum and Dad. It is very sad and they cry.
  • Walther’s body is seen in a coffin. A funeral is held for him, which is, again, very sad.
  • A mound of human skulls is seen.
  • Dietrich takes a room in a hotel but his friend David is not allowed in. The hotelier becomes very abusive.
  • Dietrich is seen on several occasions, having been beaten, with blood on his face.
  • A group of Jews are seen being rounded up and put into trucks.
  • Dietrich cries and prays in prison.
  • Dietrich’s mother weeps with grief when he is arrested for preaching against Hitler.
  • A film is shown to boys and actual reel of bodies in Auschwitz is briefly seen. One of the boys cries.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Drinking at various events – at clubs, at home, etc.
  • Characters smoke cigarettes and cigars.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • A hotelier calls Frank a “black tar baby”.
  • Bastards
  • Son of a bitch.

In a nutshell

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. is a biographical drama about an inspirational man, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who had the integrity and courage to stand up to Hitler and the Nazi movement, to the detriment of his own life. Bonhoeffer is long remembered for his contribution to Christian theology and doctrine. The movie is very moving and an important reminder of the result of nationalism and fascism, however, due to its themes it is unsuitable for under 12’s and more suited to older children, teens and adults.

The main messages from this movie are to stand up for what you believe in and not to give in to evil.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Courage
  • Selflessness
  • Acting on your conscience
  • Integrity
  • Strength of character.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • The difficulty Dietrich faced in struggling between his Christianity and the need to put an end to Hitler and one of the most evil regimes in history.
  • Standing up for what you believe in takes great moral courage but it is greatly rewarding.