Why I'm Going to 'Bonhoeffer' Tonight

I haven't been this excited about a movie in a very long time.

Readers of this Substack may know that a couple months ago I went to the movies to watch Matt Walsh’s hit documentary Am I a Racist?

The film was great; I laughed myself silly. You can read my review here.

As much as I enjoyed the movie, I later noted that the previews for several upcoming films left me thinking even more than Walsh’s documentary.

One of them in particular stood out to me.

“…the one I want to talk about right now is Bonhoeffer, a historical drama written and directed by Todd Komarnicki, a producer of Elf and director of Sully.

As readers can likely guess, the film is based on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945), the German pastor, pacifist, and anti-Nazi dissident. Last year I read Eric Metaxas’ biography of the Christian martyr—Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Spy—which inspired a couple of articles on Bonhoeffer’s upbringing and break from nationalism.

For years I’ve waited for a great epic film on Bonhoeffer, and it appears like we’ll have one.

The trailer is absolutely amazing, in no small part because of the music that accompanies the scenes: Disturb’s cover of the Simon and Garfunkel hit ‘The Sound of Silence.’”

Here is the trailer of which I wrote:

That Substack article was published two months ago, and in the time since I’ve thought about this movie a lot. I’ve watched the trailer at least 25 times (in truth, the figure might be closer to 50). I have it shared with many people. I’ve been re-reading Metaxas’ biography to better understand Bonhoeffer. And the more I’ve read, the more excited I’ve become to see the film.

My obsession with this upcoming movie might sound crazy to some readers, and I can’t quite explain why I’ve been so moved by a trailer. Unfortunately, if I try to explain it here, I fear I might spoil the film for those who don’t know Bonhoeffer’s story.

But I will say this: the opening words of the trailer speak to me.

“Something is coming. Something unstoppable.”

I’ve felt something like this for a very long time, and as I re-read Metaxas’s biography of Bonhoeffer, I become more and more convinced that our world is on the brink of something, well, unstoppable.

I don’t know what it is. I don’t know when it will come. But I believe the ideological forces that Hitler marshalled in his rise to power are very much alive today, as are the ideological forces (Postmodernism, Marxism, etc.) that led many Germans to embrace Hitler as a counterweight.

I pray I’m wrong, and maybe I am. But something in bones tells me something is coming. And I ask myself: how will I respond?

It’s an impossible question to answer, of course. But what I do know is this: I want to respond to collective evil like Bonhoeffer did.

When other Christians were hiding from evil or (worse) cozying up to it, he answered it with courage. To say Bonhoeffer was a hero is an understatement. I think in many ways he’s the model for what Christians are called to be.

I must admit, however, that this is a morally complicated matter, made more so because Bonhoeffer himself was deeply convicted about his role in the plot to assassinate Hitler, something he admitted was morally indefensible.

Whether the film can navigate this complexity without reducing Bonhoeffer to a caricature will be a challenge. (Some early reviews suggest Komarnicki does not succeed here.)

Regardless, I’m going to see this film on its opening night. My only hope is that it’s half as good as it looks.

I’ll let you know in a couple days if it is.