While The Boy in Striped Pajamas is obviously a well-intentioned film, it is considerably unrealistic with a strange and awkward ending. The story is about an eight-year-old child named Bruno (Asa Butterfield) who is the son of a Nazi soldier (David Thewlis) and his unsuspecting wife (Vera Farmiga). The family is stationed at a home near the death camp in which Thewlis
works, and it does not take Bruno long to notice this “farm” and yearn to explore it. What he eventually finds is another eight-year-old boy whom he befriends, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) and, much to his father’s dismay, continuously visits the camp to play ball with his new-found friend or bring him food.
All the while, Bruno is torn as he is constant ...