Title: Anthropoid

Director: Sean Ellis

Released: July 1, 2016 (Czech Republic at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)

Runtime: 2 hours

Available to stream on: Kanopy and Prime Video

IMDb synopsis: Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the Reich’s third in command after Hitler and Himmler.

Sometimes when you see that a movie is based on actual events you find yourself wondering why you’d never heard of the events before. Anthropoid (2016) is one of those times.

Josef Gabčík (Cillian Murphy), a Slovakian soldier, and Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan), a Czech soldier, parachute into their Nazi occupied homeland on a mission to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich (Detlef Bohte), third in command of the Nazi party.

Things get off to a rough start as Josef injures his foot while parachuting in. They then are found by traitors posing as resistance fighters but luckily Josef shoots one of them, the other manages to escape. Josef and Jan take the traitors’ truck and get themselves to Prague.

While on their way to meet up with the other resistance fighters, Josef and Jan stop by a veterinarian by the name of Dr. Eduard (Sean Mahon) who manages to treat Josef’s injured foot. Finally, they manage to make it to the other fighters, led by Uncle Hajský (Toby Jones) and Ladislav Vaněk (Marcin Dorocinski). When Josef and Jan inform the others of their plan, not everyone is on board. Some, such as Vaněk, believe that they should verify with London before continuing.

Josef stresses the importance of acting quickly and that there is no time to sit and wait to see what London says. He has his orders, and he plans on seeing them through. Uncle agrees and the planning stages begin.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice if everything went according to plan? Of course, but Josef and Jan have no such luck. They receive word that Heydrich is set to leave Prague, the time to act is now.

But are they ready?

Can they trust those that they’re reliant on?

What happens if they fail?

Well, if you’ve seen the movie before or are familiar with the event, you already know. However, if you haven’t seen the movie and aren’t familiar with Operation Anthropoid, this is where your homework begins.

Anthropoid (2016) is the unique war movie that keeps you engaged and invested despite focusing heavily on the drama aspect. All of the hiding, scheming, and planning that go into Operation Anthropoid I found to be fascinating.

Overall, I enjoyed the acting as well. From Disco Pigs to Oppenheimer, there’s rarely a time where I see Cillian Murphy in a role and go, “Huh, I mean, he wasn’t bad, but…”, and that rings true here as well. And it’s a good thing too, because Cillian carries Jamie Dornan from beginning to end.

Sean Ellis wore a lot of hats behind the camera here. He directed, co-wrote along with Anthony Frewin, produced, and was director of photography. The decision to have British actors speak with Czech accents was a little off-putting at first, but after maybe fifteen minutes I didn’t mind, and it wasn’t taking me out of what was happening.

Unfortunately, what did take me out of it was the way everything was shot. Yes, there were some instances where handheld added to the intensity of the scene. But the entire movie didn’t need to be shot that way.

That being said, overall, I really enjoyed Anthropoid (2016). It’s an interesting true story that is well-written and acted. If you haven’t seen it but have any interest in WWII, I would recommend giving it at least one viewing.

So, if you’ve seen Anthropoid (2016), what are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Next week we’ll have the letter “G”. Want a preview of who the crew member will be and the movie they worked on that we’ll cover?

Keep an eye out on Threads and Instagram this Wednesday!

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