Oliver Hirschbiegel, whose memorable Downfall chronicled the final days of Hitler and his entourage in their Berlin bunker, rolls the clock back six years to 1939 for this taut drama featuring a forgotten hero who almost changed the course of history. Georg Elser (a superb Christian Friedel), a left-leaning carpenter appalled by how the Nazi regime was destroying German society, attempted to assassinate Hitler with a homemade bomb that he wired to go off in a beer hall during a speech by the Nazi leader. Unfortunately, Hitler left 13 minutes prior to the bomb's detonation...

Hirschbiegel eschews a mundane chronological approach to his narrative, choosing to start at the end, with the bombing, and then to flesh out Georg's character with flashbacks after he is captured. By doing so, Hirschbiegel reveals the near-hero in all of his humanity.

"A gripping interrogation of a close call for Hitler... The film boasts handsome production values and is as intricately put together as the device Elser so painstakingly assembles." Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent