Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Sophie Scholl was a real German student who told the truth about the Nazis when almost no one dared. She was arrested, and she would not lie to save herself. She prayed to God for strength and stayed brave to the end. This movie in German is for teens and grown-ups. This is a film about conscience. Sophie tells her interrogator that no law can make a wrong thing right, and she names God as the reason. She prays alone in her cell and with the chaplain. Greydanus gives it his top grade and says he hopes his children grow up like her. She was a Lutheran, and the film shows her faith honestly. Her death is shown with restraint but it is hard to watch.
For parents
Not rated. No Catholic classification was retrieved. Greydanus says Teens & Up, and Lumen agrees. There is no gore, but the intimidation is constant and the execution at the end, though not shown directly, is disturbing. Things to frame: Sophie was a devout Protestant. Her appeal to conscience and to God's law above the state's is exactly what the Church teaches (CCC 1776 to 1782, 2242). Ask: the interrogator offers her a way out if she will say she was misled. Why does she refuse? Is that pride or truthfulness? She lies at first to protect her friends, then stops. Talk about that. What does her prayer in the cell show about where courage comes from? What would speaking the truth cost you at school? Would you pay it?