REVIEW: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Assassin (2024)

Cover Image credit: IMDb.com

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. is a 2024 American-made biopic by Angel Studios, depicting the life of German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a young man with a desire to inspire relationship with Christ over stiff religion in the German church.

When the Third Reich rises to power, not only is Dietrich’s goal more intimidating, but things flame into a much bigger and dangerous situation as Adolf Hitler institutes heinous and genocidal laws & decrees, and utterly blasphemes God with his distortion of Holy Scripture, overhaul of the church’s very core to install himself as an idol, and issuance of severe punishment to any person who dissents.

As things become more desperate in Dietrich’s world and the country at large, Dietrich agrees to join a plot to assassinate Hitler.

Spoiler-Free Review

This movie is suspenseful, dark, but informative, and inspirational at times. There are jovial moments at the start, but the movie is laced with intensity, and the intensity eventually becomes the forefront.

Content-wise, like most biopics some events are simplified, some are fused together with other events to streamline things, and some events and facts are simply excluded or completely changed.
I can’t say the full extent of how much this movie was fictionalized and how much was factual because to be frank researching everything would take time and effort that I am unwilling to use–I did select fact-checking in the “My Personal Thoughts” section below (but that section contains movie spoilers!)

Some good moral lessons and good Christian theology can be extrapolated from this movie and be quite inspiring, but also be warned that the movie eventually does show morally gray ethics and inaccurate Christian theology from the protagonists. On one hand, some viewers might not want to see a movie that turns morally gray, and that’s completely understandable! On the other hand, the morally gray content could be used to start fruitful group discussions about ethics, what sound theology really is, and what is the right thing to do in hard situations.

Artistically, the movie was well-done. The cinematography was fantastic, and the way they wove the story was attention-grabbing—I really had to “lock in” and pay attention to follow what was happening.

Overall, I think the movie has educational value historically and politically (I learned some things about how the Third Reich rose to power, and what they did, that I didn’t know before!), the actual life events and personality of Dietrich Bonhoeffer may have to be taken with a grain of salt since it is a movie, and the movie can have theological or moral value. Just remember that the movie eventually does portray questionable morality and inaccurate Biblical theology alongside times of good morality and accurate theology from the protagonists.
You can get an idea of a real person, a real period of history that happened, and learn some true but very hard-to-swallow facts.

 Any Trigger Warning for This Movie?

Bonhoeffer is very emotionally heavy/dark, as it recounts the very intense life of a man, Christian persecution, and the Holocaust. So, keep that in mind.

My Personal Thoughts + A Moral & Historical Dilemma (SPOILERS)

My Personal Thoughts

Artistically, this movie was surprisingly spectacular, from the way the story was put together to the cinematography.

The movie was told in jumps between flashbacks and the present: in the present of the film, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is imprisoned by the Nazis and unsure of his fate, and his life story leading up to his imprisonment is shown through flashbacks as he sneaks entries into a journal that he smuggled into the jail.

Cinematographically, the color palettes used in every scene were key to communicating the poignant emotions of the film, from the vibrant colors of a swinging jazz club, to the dark of a Nazi barracks cell—I know that’s basic cinematography, but these color shifts were extra noticeable to me in this movie when scenes switched tone + location.

Bonhoeffer is very emotionally charged. It’s classified on IMDb as Thriller and Political Thriller (among other genre tags, of course), and I felt it—I was on the edge of my seat through the whole movie, and so much so that I had to take a break after the first hour to calm down and come back later to finish the movie!

Historically, I can’t pick on everything the movie had different from reality—like I said before, that would be a lot to research! I did do some fact-checking on things I was personally curious about though.

So, what I did fact check: I was surprised to learn that Bonhoeffer studied theology in New York City, USA during his younger years, attended a friend’s all black church in Harlem, and even taught Sunday School at that church!¹
The way they depicted Bonhoeffer as a Sunday school teacher was freaking adorable! I wonder if he was as good with kids in real life as he was in the movie? Surely, if he was allowed to teach the Sunday school?

Another really fun bit was that Frank/Albert took Bonhoeffer to a jazz night club, where Bonhoeffer fell in love with jazz. There he met Louie Armstrong and played jazz with him.
It’s true that Bonhoeffer was a pianist, but according to Angel Studios themselves, Bonhoeffer did not attend a Jazz club or jam with the musicians there². A scene of Bonhoeffer and Armstrong jamming together is kind of a fun bit of “historical fan fiction” to see though.

The Moral Dilemma and Big Historical Error

Later in the movie, Bonhoeffer’s morality changes: he decides to help assassinate Hitler.

Before I dive into my thoughts, I want to make it very clear: I am not advocating for anyone to not watch this movie—I think God can certainly teach through this movie if He so chooses to teach someone with it. He even taught me some things through this movie: the movie inspired me to stand up for my faith no matter the cost, and God reminded me of His faithfulness and provision in times of scarcity (Matthew 6:25-34)! This movie can have theological and spiritual value! 
I also see historical & political educational value about the political forces at play in 1930s/40s Germany—I learned some things about the Nazi regime that I actually didn’t know before. We must learn from history, as to not repeat it, and to know how to get through if it—God forbid—ever does repeat itself.

All I’m aiming to say is that on the purely logical level, I’d encourage a sharp, discerning mind to view this movie so you can sift through the parts of the movie that ARE morally gray and theologically incorrect, while keeping your heart open to anything God would teach you through this movie. This movie is the story of a real, messy, fallible human’s life, so not all of Bonhoeffer’s decisions are role model worthy. 

With that said: the dilemma.

I’m not sure if Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Assassin is meant to frame Bonhoeffer as a hero, or simply as he was and letting the audience decide if he’s a hero. The former concerns me if that’s what’s true.

Some of Bonhoeffer’s actions WERE truly heroic and Biblically moral—he never denied the reality of the Third Reich’s evils, he never bent the knee to the Third Reich nor to their false religion & distortions of Christ and the Truth, he publicly spoke out against the Nazis and those in the church who bent the knee in the wrong direction, and he taught in the underground church. Those are all good things! Those things take insane amounts of courage! I want to be like him in that way!

But when Bonhoeffer did enter into questionable actions, I felt seriously wrong and disheartened watching the scene in Bonhoeffer where he decided it was entirely right to kill a man, specifically to kill Adolf Hitler.
In the scene where Bonhoeffer agrees to join the assassination plot against Hitler, his brother-in-law Hans, and one of Bonhoeffer’s students Eberhard, is with him.
When Hans presented the plot and Bonhoeffer agreed, Eberhard was alarmed and said, “You’re an avowed pacifist?!”
Bonhoeffer defended his decision, saying David was a shepherd when he slayed Goliath.
Eberhard replied with Scripture’s command and God’s will to love your enemies and pray for them, which Hans verbally knocked.
In the end, Eberhard urged, “Will God forgive us if we do this?”
Bonhoeffer replied, “And what if God doesn’t forgive us if we don’t?”
SIR—

I felt the scene heavily conveyed Dietrich turning his back to the faith—not that he was abandoning believing in & trying to follow God, and not that he lost his salvation (that is not mine to judge), but that he got mixed up and stepped off from Biblical morality, thinking it was right and God’s will to do what he was going to do. He turned his back to real theology.

I agree with Bonhoeffer’s student: God would not command murder. Perhaps murder in acute self-defense would be understood by God (think of defense against home invasion, street assault, etc.), but it’s my personal opinion that that did not apply to Bonhoeffer’s situation.
Murder in war and wiping out nations, as commanded by God, may have been commonplace in the Old Testament like Bonhoeffer referenced with the story of David, but Jesus ushered in a new age for God’s followers that we live in now and have lived in since His first-coming on Earth:

Jesus’s disciples felt like they were in dire circumstances, just as Bonhoeffer felt, as things led up to Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion. When the Romans and Pharisees came to arrest Jesus, what did Jesus’s disciple, Peter, do? He cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant! 
And what did Jesus say about Peter’s actions?

“But Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?’ “

Matthew 26:52-54 NKJV

Then Jesus healed the servant’s ear, and allowed Himself to be arrested.

Further, Jesus preached very clearly about the overall Christian call to love, not to hate or harm:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Matthew 5:38-48 NKJV

Jesus’s actions spoke as well. Not once did Jesus ever kill or physically harm anyone. And I can feel the protest now, so let me say: His time flipping tables in the temple with a whip in His hand described Him as driving people out of the temple and not allowing anyone to carry anything through the temple, but it never described Him as physically hitting anyone.

Finally, I recall Paul’s words in his letters to churches throughout the Roman world:

“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

1 Thessalonians 5-14:22 NKJV

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Romans 12:9-21 ESV

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Now, the Dietrich-specific historical error? In real life, Bonhoeffer’s attitude and decision to help the Nazi resistance was far less black and white, and framing him in the movie as fully justifying of murder in the context of his situation is… odd at best, immoral at worst.

In real life, Bonhoeffer said in a sermon, “The blood of martyrs might once again be demanded, but this blood, if we really have the courage and loyalty to shed it, will not be innocent, shining like that of the first witnesses for the faith. On our blood lies heavy with guilt, the guilt of the unprofitable servant who is cast into outer darkness.”⁴

He also wrote on his involvement with the Nazi resistance and assassination plots, “When a man takes guilt upon himself in responsibility, he imputes his guilt to himself and no one else. He answers for it… Before other men he is justified by dire necessity; before himself he is acquitted by his conscience, but before God he hopes only for grace.”³

My limited understanding of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s real life and attitudes seems to me that he understood the guilt of his involvement with the resistance, but he decided it necessary, and hoped for God’s grace.
In the movie, he expressed no sense of needing forgiveness for his involvement with the resistance–in fact, he felt like God was okay with it!

—

Either way you cut it, movie or reality, I’m of the belief that Bonhoeffer’s actions were not justified, even by the dire circumstances. 

Which, after all this said, I simply wonder what the movie’s aim was. Was it meant to be neutral? Was it meant to send a bad message? Or was this movie meant to feel as morally gray as it did so that it would encourage audience members to think about ethics & theology and inspire better morals & seeking out truly Biblical theology, the way I was encourage to?

Perhaps it won’t be known. Perhaps there’s a director’s interview out there that answers those questions. I don’t know.

Conclusion

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. is an interesting movie and artistically beautiful, with potentially conflicting moral messages.

There was undeniable good and role-model-worthy moments as Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood firm against the Nazis, held fast to God, never bent the knee to the Nazis personally or in the pulpit, and spoke out for what was right even at his own expense and in the face of great danger. That’s huge, that’s good, and that’s genuinely inspiring and noteworthy.

The latter parts of the movie become morally gray as they frame Bonhoeffer’s decision to join an assassination plot against Hitler as something fully justified by sketchy theology—a historical inaccuracy to Bonhoeffer’s more nuanced attitude in real life, a Biblical theology inaccuracy, as well as the action of murder itself being a moral/spiritual wrongdoing in reality.

I personally encourage viewers to approach this film with an open heart to what God might want to teach you through this movie, while having mental discernment ready.

Overall, I think I rate it a 5 out of 10.

References

1 Nunnelley, William. “Bonhoeffer Saw American Racism During Year of Study at Union Seminary.” Samford University, 9 January 2017, https://www.samford.edu/news/2017/01/Bonhoeffer-Saw-American-Racism-During-Year-of-Study-at-Union-Seminary
Accessed 12 May 2025.

2 Angel Studios. “What’s True in Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.?” Angel.com, 22 November 2024,
https://www.angel.com/blog/bonhoeffer/posts/whats-true-in-bonhoeffer-pastor-spy-assassin
Accessed 12 May 2025.

3 Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Ethics. Germany, 1949.
Accessed 12 May 2025.

 4 Bethge, Eberhard. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography. Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2000.
Accessed 12 May 2025.