Buoyed by the excellent performances by its lead child actors, Mark Herman’s adaptation of John Boyne’s allegorical young adult novel gives us a child’s eye view of unimaginable evil, which makes said evil all the more grotesque. What is most unnerving about the film is the way in which it allows its young protagonist to discover for himself and on his own terms the reality of what is happening in the world around him, which is all the more unsettling given that we in the audience already know. It is, in a sense, a tragedy about finally becoming self-aware, with a child being forced to suddenly navigate the choppy waters of the worst crime of the 20th century. (Starplex 16, Waco, TX)