this be the o sad and so impossible to believe tale of a family live next door to a concentration camp during world war 2. and of the strange friendship of two 8 year old boy and one the commandant son and the other a sad eyed jewish boy . in the late 1930 and early 1940 hollywood make many film about nazi germany and concentration camp and at that time we do not know of the extent of what be go on and so the studio make propaganda film such a . the mortal storm and so end our night and escape and watch on the rhine ( just to name 4 ) ( these be all very good movie ) and they be pure hollywood fiction make on studio or back lot set . they and all the others be more believable than this travesty . i do not believe that any of them be german and i saw english actor play german etc . the 2 known star and usually give top notch performance . david thewlis a the commandant be not the least bit effective . vera farmiga a his wife be equally ineffective . the two boy play by asa butterfield and jack scanlon be cute and but seem more like today 8 year old . the only believable role be old time actor richard johnson a grandpa and he at least know how to do his character . mark herman write the screenplay take from a novel by john byrne and he also direct this mess . the movie be make in hungary and there be nothing believable about this film in any department . the end be suppose to be tragic and sad and if so and how come i be just happy that this bore of a film be over withratings represent ( out of 4 ) 25 point ( out of 100 ) imdb 1 ( out of 4 ) .