---
title: "All Quiet on the Western Front"
year: 2022
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/all-quiet-on-the-western-front"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 75
critics_reviews: 18
published: "2026-09-19T21:35:25.680830+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-19T21:35:49.792783+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Directed by Edward Berger · 2h 27m · MPA R · War, Drama

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 75 from 18 reviews

*In a sentence:* Three blaring notes, two hours of mud and one general who wants the war to outlast his breakfast

> Edward Berger’s German-language version of Remarque is superbly made and hard to watch, with a three-note score that sounds like a siren going wrong. It is also a film that keeps explaining what its own trenches have already shown us.

## Synopsis

Northern Germany, spring 1917. Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer), seventeen, forges his parents’ signature to enlist with his schoolfriends Albert Kropp (Aaron Hilmer), Franz Müller (Moritz Klaus) and Ludwig Behm (Adrian Grünewald), sent off by a headmaster who promises them Paris within weeks. The uniform Paul is handed has another boy’s name tag stitched inside the collar. Within days the four are in a flooded trench in northern France, bailing water with their helmets while the first shells come in, and there they meet Stanislaus Katczinsky (Albrecht Schuch), an older soldier who knows where to find food and when to keep his head down. Eighteen months later, in November 1918, the politician Matthias Erzberger (Daniel Brühl) boards a train to seek an armistice while the fighting goes on.

## Review

Erich Maria Remarque’s novel came out in 1929 and Hollywood filmed it the following year. It has taken until now for Germans to film it in German. Edward Berger, directing from a screenplay he wrote with Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell, decides what the book is about before anyone has spoken. A soldier dies in a charge across the mud. His uniform is stripped, laundered with hundreds of others, patched at a sewing machine, folded and issued to Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer), who asks about the name inside the collar and is told the tunic was probably too small for its last owner. It is the best five minutes in the film. Everything the next two hours say, they say here first.

Kammerer has not made a film before this one, and it shows in the right way. His Paul begins with a round, eager face and Berger spends 147 minutes emptying it. He barely speaks. Remarque wrote in the first person; this Paul has no narration and no home leave, so he cannot tell us what he thinks and has nowhere to set the front against. What he has is Kat. Albrecht Schuch plays Stanislaus Katczinsky, an older cobbler who cannot read and has his letters read to him, and the scenes the two share, stealing a goose from a farmyard, eating it in a barn, are the only ones in which anyone smiles. Schuch does the most delicate work in the film, most of it with his shoulders.

James Friend shoots it wide and cold, blue-grey in the trenches, brown in the mud, and keeps cutting back to the woods: a fox with her cubs, mist on a hillside, trees carrying on as if nothing were happening below them. Christian M. Goldbeck’s trenches are wet to the knee and his headquarters for General Friedrichs (Devid Striesow) has white tablecloths. Lisy Christl’s costumes carry the argument in cloth; the recycled tunics get shabbier as the boys inside them do. Then there is Hauschka’s score: three distorted notes, low and enormous, that arrive like a fault in the machinery whenever the film wants us afraid. They unsettled us more than any shell did, and they are the one thing here we had not heard before.

The set piece in the middle, when French tanks come out of the smoke, is where we were horrified. Berger and his editor Sven Budelmann hold on the machines for a long while before showing what they do, and then show it plainly: men under the tracks, men who cannot climb out of a shell hole in time, a flamethrower turned on a dugout. We looked away twice. We also noticed, by the film’s third assault, that we had stopped looking away at all, and we do not think that numbness was intended. Remarque’s point is that the fighting went on and on and changed nothing. Berger makes the point by making it three times.

The screenplay also adds a story the book does not have. Matthias Erzberger (Daniel Brühl) travels to a railway carriage in a forest to ask General Foch (Thibault de Montalembert) for an armistice, while Friedrichs eats well in his chateau and will not accept that the war is lost. Brühl is good, quiet and frightened; Striesow is sure of himself to the last. The point is clear: old men in warm rooms, boys in cold mud. But the trenches have already made it, and every cut to the carriage takes us away from Paul, who is the film. Several critics have made the same objection. We would add that Friedrichs is written as a monster, when an ordinary officer doing his job would have been more frightening.

Most critics have been warm and a few rapturous. The one dissent worth weighing says the film is handsome, competent and adds nothing to what war films have been saying since 1930. We are between the two. The uniform sequence, the score, Schuch and Kammerer are additions. The second half is not. Set against [*1917*](https://film.one/film/1917) (2019), which several reviews reach for, this is less pleased with its own camera and more honest about what shrapnel does to a body. Set against the 1930 film it is louder, colder and shorter on the boys’ lives before the war, which is the part of the book that hurts.

See it, if the subject is yours, in the biggest room you can find with the sound up; Hauschka’s three notes need space. Certificate 15, 147 minutes, and both numbers are honest. Do not eat first.

*Fi1m score 72, published 19 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics are impressed. The reviews lean strongly positive, with fourteen of eighteen in favour, and the praise clusters on Berger’s battle scenes, which are found brutal, repetitive by design and free of heroics. Several single out the opening sequence following a dead soldier’s uniform as it is recycled, and the cutting between trench carnage and quiet, empty landscape. The photography, production design and sound are praised almost everywhere, and the German-language perspective is widely felt to reclaim the story for the country that produced the novel.

The reservations are about what Berger adds and what he leaves out. The Los Angeles Times finds the armistice negotiation subplot an unnecessary distraction from the soldiers; Time Out feels the adaptation cuts too deeply into the book’s characters. The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire admire the craft but hear only a familiar reminder that war is hell. The spread is wide: Variety alone dismisses it as dull, competent and without emotional force.

### Reviews we read (18)

- **Radio Times**, Stephen Applebaum (5/5): The critic praises this as a brutal adaptation that does justice to the classic novel, instantly establishing its anti-war message through the recycling of soldiers' uniforms and staging battle scenes that reach new levels of horror while also capturing beauty, comradeship and the tragic loss of a generation. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-a927fd/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/)
- **The AV Club**, Matthew Jackson (A-): Berger’s adaptation is a powerful, bleakly honest and visually poetic take on the novel, emphasizing the human cost of war through visceral battles and quiet landscape framing. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/all-quiet-western-front-movie-review-2022-edward-berger-1849694837)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (85/100, inferred): The critic praises Berger's visceral and hard-nosed direction, which depicts trench warfare as a futile, repetitive horror machine with stunning production values that rival 1917. The film is lauded as a doom-laden, epic adaptation that powerfully conveys the wretched pointlessness of war. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (80/100, inferred): The critic finds it a powerful, eloquent and conscientiously impassioned German-language adaptation of the classic anti-war novel. The film is praised for its substantial, serious approach and expertly melded battlefield scenes, though noted as perhaps overly conscious of its own classic status. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/12/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-anti-war-nightmare-of-bloodshed-and-chaos)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (4/5): The critic calls it a jaw-dropping, brutal and brilliant vision that movingly captures humanity amid the horror of the Great War, a leaner and more savage beast than previous adaptations. Smart Spielbergian grace notes and strong craft elevate the battle scenes, though the adaptation cuts too deeply into the book's character elements. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-2022)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (75/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's visceral realism and the power of its German-language adaptation but criticizes the inclusion of a subplot about the armistice negotiations as unnecessary and a distraction from the soldiers' experiences. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-10-27/review-all-quiet-on-the-western-front-netflix)
- **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): The critic describes a wrenching, visceral adaptation that illustrates war’s bloody repetitiveness through cross-cutting between the front lines and peace negotiations, bringing home the message of all war films in a straightforward way as a tough, accomplished endurance test. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-toronto-review/5174384.article)
- **Sight and Sound** (70/100, inferred): The critic highlights the film's intelligent references and inversions that expand on Remarque’s humanist plea, including the opening sequence tracking a recycled uniform and added negotiation scenes. It follows familiar technical choices from other recent war films but remains a powerful, visceral reminder of war's horrors on a continent again seeing young men sacrificed. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/all-quiet-western-front-horror-horror)
- **Little White Lies**, Finlay Spencer (3/3/2): The film is viewed as a procedural and faceless exercise, interesting to observe but lacking originality in its brutality as the latest addition to Netflix’s war film landfill. Berger provides some nuance through the Brühl and Striesow subplot, but the overall result is a workmanlike, war-by-numbers entry that fails to find a harmonious balance. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front)
- **IndieWire**, Katie Rife (50/100, inferred): The remake is handsome and expected, delivering starkly beautiful imagery but adding little new to the anti-war canon beyond familiar points about the futility of conflict. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-german-remake-1234762459/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, John DeFore (50/100, inferred): Berger’s German adaptation is a skillfully made, visceral anti-war film that excels in photography and effects but offers little new beyond reminding viewers that war is hell. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-1235221454/)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (35/100, inferred): The review finds the film competently made but dull and lacking in dramatic depth or special flair, making its anti-war point repetitively without emotional impact. [Read](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-1235424169/)
- **Collider**, Maggie Lovitt (A): The critic finds Berger's adaptation a stunning, honest and devastating German take on the novel that avoids heroic narratives or positive outcomes, instead delivering a brutal yet non-voyeuristic portrait of war's horrors. It singles out the strong newcomer performance by Felix Kammerer, effective contrast between battlefield carnage and serene nature, and added historical elements underscoring war's shame. [Read](https://collider.com/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-daniel-bruhl/)
- **Consequence**, Clint Worthington (A-): The critic calls Berger's film a stark, visceral and urgent German adaptation with a singular purpose of hammering home the horrors of war through grisly detail and strong sound design. It praises the brilliant opening sequence and overall indictment of war while noting some streamlining of the book alongside needless complications. [Read](https://consequence.net/2022/10/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-netflix/)
- **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it something special among Oscar contenders and praises its gripping, lived-in quality with strong performances and exquisite cinematography that finds beauty in grim scenes. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-2022-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
- **/Film**, Sarah Milner (9/10): The film is a powerful, relentlessly bleak condemnation of war as a horrific waste of life, masterfully shot with the German perspective and a focus on the cycle of death and propaganda. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1006030/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-a-bleak-beautiful-anti-war-film-tiff/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a strong and polished new German-language take on the classic novel that proves war is hell. He singles out the technical achievements in cinematography, production design, and score for praise. [Read](https://deadline.com/2022/09/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-toronto-review-1235115734/)
- **The Wrap**, Steve Pond (75/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a beautiful yet horrifying new adaptation that reclaims the anti-war story for Germany. He singles out its unflinching depiction of brutality from the German perspective and its visual spectacle. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-2022-movie-review-german/)

## Details

- **Director:** Edward Berger
- **Director:** Edward Berger
- **Screenplay:** Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell, Edward Berger
- **Novel:** Erich Maria Remarque
- **Cinematography:** James Friend
- **Editor:** Sven Budelmann
- **Music:** Hauschka
- **Production design:** Christian M. Goldbeck
- **Costume design:** Lisy Christl
- **Producer:** Edward Berger, Daniel Marc Dreifuss, Malte Grunert
- **Cast:** Felix Kammerer as Paul Bäumer; Albrecht Schuch as Stanislaus 'Kat' Katczinsky; Aaron Hilmer as Albert Kropp; Moritz Klaus as Franz Müller; Adrian Grünewald as Ludwig Behm; Edin Hasanović as Tjaden Stackfleet; Daniel Brühl as Matthias Erzberger; Thibault de Montalembert as General Ferdinand Foch
- **Runtime:** 2h 27m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 7 October 2022
- **Genres:** War, Drama
- **Budget:** $20 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf8EYbVxtCY

## Where to watch in the US

- Netflix: streaming

*Checked 2026-09-19.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2023: Best Picture (nominated); Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated); Best Cinematography (won); Best International Feature Film (won); Best Original Score (won); Best Production Design (won)
- BAFTA Film Awards 2023: Best Film (won)
- Golden Globes 2023: Best Non-English Language Film (nominated)
- International Submission to the Academy Awards 2023: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Hair and Makeup Artist 2022: European Film Award for Best Hair and Makeup Artist (won)
- European Film Award for Best Visual Effects 2022: European Film Award for Best Visual Effects (won)

## If you liked this

- *All Quiet on the Western Front* (1930): Lewis Milestone’s version keeps the boys’ lives before the war; see what Berger cut.
- *Paths of Glory* (1957), Fi1m 93: Kubrick’s French generals send men to die and then court-martial the survivors. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/paths-of-glory.md)
- *Come and See* (1985), Fi1m 92: Klimov’s Belarusian boy walks through the Eastern Front; the one war film we cannot rewatch. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/come-and-see.md)
- *Das Boot* (1981), Fi1m 89: Petersen’s submarine crew, Germans again, trapped in a tube and waiting for the depth charges. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/das-boot.md)
- *Journey's End* (2017): A British dugout in March 1918, four days, no battle scenes and no less dread.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/all-quiet-on-the-western-front