The Exception

2017

The Exception is a World War 2 drama where the jaded Nazi Captain Stefan Brandt (Jai Courtney) is transferred to The Netherlands to find a spy that the Nazis think have infiltrated the household of the deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II (Christopher Plummer), who is living in exile with his wife Princess Hermine (Janet McTeer). One of rules Stefan is given is not to fraternise with the help and that rule is broken in mere hours when he catches the eye of Mieke (Lily James) and they begin an affair. They sneak around and in the process fall for one another. Stefan follows Mieke one day and finds her leaving a church run a priest who is a Resistance sympathiser. Mieke then tells Stefan that she is Jewish which doesn't bother him but he suggests that she not tell anyone else this. Mieke becomes friendly with the Kaiser which she uses to suggest that she could kill the Kaiser. The priest says that he will come and tell her whether or not she should go ahead with the assassination, but before he gets word, Stefan has the priest arrested and tortured. Stefan and Mieke are then caught together by the Kaiser's right-hand man (Ben Daniels), but instead of punishment, the Kaiser welcomes it as he adores Mieke. Things are then further complicated when Heinrich Himmler (Eddie Marsan) makes a surprise visit with the Kaiser hoping Himmler will tell him that he can come back to Germany. Will Mieke kill the Kaiser and what will Stefan do with Mieke, the woman he loves?

OK drama/thriller that intrigues despite Stefan taking many liberties in his love of Mieke, yeah he's jaded by his treatment by the Nazis but it's hard to believe he would let Mieke get as far as she does. Also, Stefan and Mieke are instantly fucking despite not knowing each other's name is just a little far-fetched. Despite some huge leaps of faith, The Exception is still a pretty watchable movie.

Lily James collages below