Irena's Vow is a 2023 war drama film, directed by Louise Archambault. Written by Dan Gordon who also wrote the Broadway play Irena's Vow, the film stars Sophie Nélisse as Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish nurse who helped to shelter and protect Jewish people during the Holocaust by hiding them in the cellar of the home where she was employed as a housekeeper by German Army officer Major Eduard Rügemer (Dougray Scott). The cast also includes Andrzej Seweryn, Eliza Rycembel, Maciej Nawrocki, Aleksandar Milicevic, Tomasz Tyndyk and Nela Maciejewska.
The film was shot in 2022 in Warsaw and Lublin, Poland. It premiered in the Centrepiece program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film was released in Canada on April 19, 2024.
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Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 32 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "Sophie Nélisse brings powerful subtlety to the title role in Irena's Vow, accomplishing so much with her eyes, her presence, her ability to shift demeanor and tone quickly depending on the situation."
