---
title: "The Windermere Children"
year: 2020
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-windermere-children"
fi1m_id: "the-windermere-children"
imdb_id: "tt10370380"
tmdb_id: 664423
wikidata_id: "Q83888685"
fi1m_score: 78
critics_score: 75
critics_reviews: 4
published: "2026-10-07T19:11:05.238845+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-07T19:11:21.912218+00:00"
region: "NL"
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."
---

# The Windermere Children (2020)

Directed by Michael Samuels · 1h 28m · Drama, War, History

## Identity

The Windermere Children

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-windermere-children
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-windermere-children
- **IMDb ID:** tt10370380
- **TMDB ID:** 664423
- **Wikidata ID:** Q83888685
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10370380/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/664423, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q83888685

**Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 75 (early) from 4 reviews

*In a sentence:* The grown-ups get the familiar names; the children get our attention

> Michael Samuels’s drama about young Holocaust survivors is moving and carefully acted, though sometimes too reassuring. The young ensemble deserves a tighter script, but its tentative friendships make the film worth our time.

## Synopsis

Children who have survived the Holocaust begin the difficult work of accepting care and rebuilding their lives. The adults around them include Oscar Friedmann (Thomas Kretschmann), Marie Paneth (Romola Garai) and Jock Lawrence (Iain Glen). Among the young survivors is Schmuel ‘Sam’ Laskier (Marek Wroblewski). The children need to feel safe, but accepting help means trusting people after experiences that have made trust difficult. As friendships begin to form, creative activities offer another way to communicate. The adults try to support that process, while the children face the more immediate question of how to get through an ordinary day.

## Review

*The Windermere Children* is a moving drama about the help young Holocaust survivors need, though its reassuring tone sometimes makes their recovery seem simpler than it should. Director Michael Samuels and writer Simon Block are interested in how children begin to trust other people again. Friendship and creative activity give them ways to express themselves without having to explain everything they have endured. It is a patient approach, and mostly the right one for a subject that hardly needs additional dramatic force.

Thomas Kretschmann as Oscar Friedmann, Romola Garai as Marie Paneth and Iain Glen as Jock Lawrence give the adult side of the story a reassuring steadiness. The younger cast supplies the uncertainty that keeps it from becoming too comfortable. Marek Wroblewski’s Schmuel ‘Sam’ Laskier and Pascal Fischer’s Benyak ‘Ben’ Helfgott belong to an ensemble whose company matters more than a single commanding performance. We want more time with these children, even when the film seems satisfied that we have understood them.

We were moved by the children’s efforts to find friends, because the film takes that need seriously rather than using it as a brief relief from suffering. Creative activity also gives them something to do besides explain themselves to an attentive adult. These are sensible dramatic choices, and Simon Block is strongest when he allows recovery to remain tentative. The children have already been through enough without having to deliver a speech that neatly explains what the audience should learn.

Ashleigh Jeffers’s production design helps establish an atmosphere of protection, and Alex Baranowski’s music encourages our sympathy. Both serve the film’s wish to show that care can make a difference, and neither distracts from the performers. The difficulty is that the surrounding comfort sometimes gets ahead of the children, making recovery feel more orderly than the performances suggest. We would have preferred less reassurance, especially when the young cast is already doing the emotional work.

Victoria Boydell’s editing keeps the ensemble manageable within 88 minutes, but the film’s breadth has a cost. Attention is divided among enough people that a developing attachment can feel interrupted by the need to check in elsewhere. Simon Block gives us a group whose recovery we care about, yet some individuals remain less distinct than they deserve to be. A narrower focus would have given the young performers more room, particularly when a relationship has begun to interest us.

We do not think the answer would have been a harsher film simply to prove that the subject has been taken seriously. A drama about children who have survived the Holocaust is entitled to show the help they receive, and to take pleasure in friendship. Michael Samuels earns much of the hopefulness through the young ensemble. The weaker passages are those in which the film makes us feel secure before we are persuaded that the children do. See it for the young cast, who deserve as much attention as the familiar names.

*Fi1m score 78, published 7 October 2026.*

## Straight answers

**Is The Windermere Children worth watching?**

*The Windermere Children* is worth watching for its carefully acted account of young Holocaust survivors learning to trust again, and we score it 78 out of 100. We are moved by the tentative friendships, though the reassuring tone sometimes makes recovery seem too simple and the ensemble leaves some children with less attention than they deserve.

**How long is The Windermere Children, and what is it rated?**

*The Windermere Children* runs 1h 28m. It is a drama and war film.

**Where can I watch The Windermere Children in the Netherlands?**

*The Windermere Children* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from €2.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Windermere Children, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Windermere Children* has a UK U certificate, but its focus on young Holocaust survivors makes it a potentially upsetting choice for children despite that classification. The emphasis is on accepting care and rebuilding trust; we would distinguish its reassuring approach from light viewing and suggest adults consider a child’s readiness for the subject.

**How does The Windermere Children compare to Au Revoir les Enfants?**

*The Windermere Children* is the more reassuring drama about childhood friendship, while [*Au Revoir les Enfants*](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants) earns our firmer recommendation through its close attention to two boys learning to be friends under occupation. We recommend the former for its young ensemble and emphasis on recovery; the latter offers a more concentrated friendship, though its remembered school life sometimes feels too carefully arranged.

**What should I watch after The Windermere Children?**

After *The Windermere Children*, try [*Au revoir les enfants*](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants) (1987, Fi1m 90): Childhood friendship under occupation, handled with restraint and close attention to daily life. Then [*The Quiet Girl*](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-girl) (2022, Fi1m 84): Patient care changes a child’s life, with little need for explanatory speeches; and [*Nobody Knows*](https://film.one/film/nobody-knows) (2004, Fi1m 87): A tougher watch, equally alert to children’s resourcefulness and their need for adults.

### Reviews we read (4)

- **Radio Times**, Eleanor Bley Griffiths (85/100, inferred): Griffiths finds the factual drama profoundly moving and emotionally forceful. Its account of child Holocaust survivors is singled out for its emotional impact. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-windermere-children-review/)
- **Evening Standard**, Katie Law (80/100, inferred): Law finds the drama and accompanying documentary devastating and considers the feature-length drama superb. She especially praises its sensitive portrayal of the children’s gradual recovery through care, friendship and creative expression. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-windermere-children-drama-documentary-bbc-two-a4345761.html)
- **The Guardian**, Amelia Gentleman (75/100, inferred): The review finds the drama poignant and hopeful, while condemning the contrast between the welcome given to these children and Britain’s treatment of child refugees today. It singles out the real survivors appearing at the end as the most powerful and unexpectedly optimistic moments. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jan/27/the-windermere-children-review-how-the-lakes-saved-the-lives-of-nazi-survivors)
- **The i Paper**, Rupert Hawksley (★★★): Hawksley finds the film too cosy and narratively diffuse to convey the Holocaust’s horrors. He praises the young performers and the moving final minutes featuring people whose experiences inspired the film. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-windermere-children-bbc2-review-romola-garai-the-holocaust-390874)

## Details

- **Director:** Michael Samuels
- **Director:** Michael Samuels
- **Writer:** Simon Block
- **Editor:** Victoria Boydell
- **Music:** Alex Baranowski
- **Production design:** Ashleigh Jeffers
- **Costume design:** Maggie Donnelly
- **Producer:** Alison Sterling
- **Cast:** Thomas Kretschmann as Oscar Friedmann; Romola Garai as Marie Paneth; Iain Glen as Jock Lawrence; Tim McInnerny as Leonard Montefiore; Marcel Sabat as Berish Lerner; Philipp Christopher as Georg Lauer; Anna Schumacher as Edith Lauer; Konstantin Frank as Rabbi Weiss
- **Runtime:** 1h 28m
- **First release (Germany):** 27 January 2020
- **Genres:** Drama, War, History
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9jr5X_XJ4g

## Where to watch in the Netherlands

- Amazon Prime Video: rent €2.99, hd
- Apple TV: rent €2.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy €4.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy €4.99, hd

*Checked 2026-10-07.*

Also available in: CA, GB, IE, NL, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Search* (1948): Another post-war drama attentive to displaced children and the difficult business of trust.
- *Au revoir les enfants* (1987), Fi1m 90: Childhood friendship under occupation, handled with restraint and close attention to daily life. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants.md)
- *The Quiet Girl* (2022), Fi1m 84: Patient care changes a child’s life, with little need for explanatory speeches. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-girl.md)
- *Nobody Knows* (2004), Fi1m 87: A tougher watch, equally alert to children’s resourcefulness and their need for adults. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/nobody-knows.md)
- *Monsieur Lazhar* (2011): A classroom drama about grief, displacement and the limits of well-meaning adult help.

---
© 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/the-windermere-children