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‘My Best Friend Anne Frank’ Review: Separated by the Nazis

This film wants to spotlight a story of friendship and childhood innocence during the Holocaust, but feels quaint and misguided.

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By Nicolas Rapold

Anne Frank once lamented that she might survive the war and her friend, Hannah Goslar , probably would not. It’s a haunting perspective to remember when watching “ My Best Friend Anne Frank ,” a Dutch film told from the point of view of Hannah. Ben Sombogaart’s costume drama shuttles between Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, where Hannah and Anne are fast friends, and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they were later imprisoned separately.

The film wants to spotlight a story of friendship and childhood innocence during the Holocaust. Mischief-making Anne (Aiko Beemsterboer) delights and frustrates her loyal pal, Hannah (Josephine Arendsen), who feels left out as other girls (and boys) enter the picture. When Anne disappears, Hannah doesn’t realize that her friend has gone into hiding nearby. She’s soon overwhelmed with her own family’s persecution by the Nazis.

In the camp sequences, a smudgy-faced Hannah trudges around anonymously drab surroundings. The muddled portrayal looks and feels quaint compared to other films about the experience, and it doesn’t help that Hannah is less vividly drawn than Anne. The director seems to bide his time till their dramatic reunion, when Hannah learns that Anne is dying on the other side of a camp wall.

Clinging to Hannah’s naïve viewpoint and the cherished ideal of her friendship with Anne results in some hard truths being hidden away or oddly sanitized. Physical violence tends to get staged in the background of shots, for example (even when Hannah’s pregnant mother is brutalized at home). The credits underline the tin ear of the whole endeavor by declaring that Anne “became what she wanted: world-famous.”

My Best Friend Anne Frank Not rated. In Dutch, German and Hungarian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. Watch on Netflix.

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My best friend anne frank, common sense media reviewers.

movie review my best friend anne frank

Girl risks life to save best friend; violence, intense peril

My Best Friend Anne Frank Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Message that the Nazi treatment of Jews and other

Hannah is a loyal friend who risks her life twice

Germans are depicted as brutal, prejudiced, anti-S

Violence is rarely the focus of any scene, but it'

Anne is a curious young teenager who talks about "

Infrequent use of "s--t," "damn," "hell," "bitch,"

Adults smoke cigarettes. Soldiers are seen drunk.

Parents need to know that My Best Friend Anne Frank is a Dutch drama based on the memories of Frank's friend Hannah Goslar, now 93. Goslar is also a Dutch Jew deported by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II. Note that the girls later end up in side-by-side Nazi prison camps and Hannah risks…

Positive Messages

Message that the Nazi treatment of Jews and other "undesirables" during WWII was violent, destructive, genocidal, hate-filled, and brutal.

Positive Role Models

Hannah is a loyal friend who risks her life twice to get food to her starving friend in a heavily guarded Nazi camp. Anne professes love for her friend but teases, taunts, and plays mean pranks. Anne abandons the friend when newer, cooler friends come along. She seems self-absorbed and insensitive while Hannah remains steadfastly loyal despite feeling hurt.

Diverse Representations

Germans are depicted as brutal, prejudiced, anti-Semitic Nazis. Dutch police officers are equally repulsed by and violent to Jews. Jews are called "filthy," "dirty," and "insects." Someone sniffs a Jewish person and says, "It stinks."

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Violence is rarely the focus of any scene, but it's the threat behind every minute of screen time. A pregnant woman is brutally mauled by a police officer determining if she's faking her pregnancy. She later dies in childbirth offscreen. Someone's bloody shirtsleeves are shown to telegraph that ordeal. Nazis brutalize, beat, shoot, spit at, and otherwise menace and hurt Jews. Prisoners-of-war are deprived of food and decent living arrangements. A girl is seen carrying pails of human waste to a dumping site. Anti-Semitic graffiti is written on shop windows and walls of Jewish-owned shops, seen as the owners are being arrested. Jews remark they can't understand if the Germans and Dutch hate them so much why they won't allow them to leave the country and go elsewhere, a sideways reference to what we now know was the Nazi "final solution," killing Jews rather than deporting them to other places. A man dies in the hospital.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Anne is a curious young teenager who talks about "French kissing" and about a boy's "long tongue." Teen girls giggle about how babies get into their mothers' bellies and make fun of girls who still don't know the facts of life. In that taunting manner, Anne presses an unwilling friend to view illustrations of the mechanics of male-female sex and anatomical illustrations of male and female reproductive systems and organs. She pulls stuffing out of her bra and tries to feel her uncooperative friend's breasts. She sits next to a boy at a movie as he tries to kiss her, but she runs away. A drunk soldier pees in the street.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Infrequent use of "s--t," "damn," "hell," "bitch," "slut," and "whore." Jews are referred to as "insects," "dirty," and "filthy."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that My Best Friend Anne Frank is a Dutch drama based on the memories of Frank's friend Hannah Goslar, now 93. Goslar is also a Dutch Jew deported by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II. Note that the girls later end up in side-by-side Nazi prison camps and Hannah risks her life to help save Anne. Language includes infrequent use of "s--t," "damn," "hell," "bitch," "slut," and "whore." Adults smoke cigarettes and get drunk. A pregnant woman is brutally mauled by a police officer. She later dies in childbirth offscreen. Nazis brutalize, beat, shoot, spit at, and otherwise menace and hurt Jews. Prisoners-of-war are deprived of food and decent living arrangements. A girl is seen carrying pails of human waste to a dumping site. Anti-Semitic graffiti is written on shop windows and walls of Jewish-owned shops, seen as the owners are being arrested. Anne is a curious young teenager who talks about "French kissing" and about a boy's "long tongue." Teen girls giggle about how babies get into their mothers' bellies and make fun of girls who still don't know the facts of life. In that taunting manner, Anne presses an unwilling friend to view illustrations of the mechanics of male-female sex and anatomical illustrations of male and female reproductive systems and organs. She pulls stuffing out of her bra and tries to feel her uncooperative friend's breasts. Those familiar with the events of World War II will be aware of the doom ahead for the story's Jewish characters, a foreboding that underlies every scene, although Nazi atrocities aren't the focus of the story. In Dutch, German and Hungarian with English subtitles. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

The story of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl hidden from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic between 1942 and 1944, is well known because her famed diary was smuggled out by her surviving father and published to acclaim. Plays, books, and movies have been written about her life, which ended at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp from starvation and typhoid, shortly before the war's end. MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK isn't her story, but that of her best friend, Hannah Goslar, who is now 93 and living in Israel. The pair were inseparable until Anne's interest in boys and sex led her to more mature friends who mocked and excluded the devastated Hannah. Anne is surprisingly unlikable here, a bit mischievous, but mostly self-absorbed, insensitive, and at times mean, while Hannah remains the loyal friend. Anyone who has seen a movie set in World War II knows that blood will be spilled, no matter how hopeful characters may seem. But the foreboding gives way to the overriding emphasis on Hannah's abiding love for Anne, despite feeling hurt and rejected by her. Told Anne has left for Switzerland (the story covering the Frank family's disappearance to a nearby Amsterdam attic), Hannah feels abandoned. Hannah eventually ends up in a prisoner-of-war camp and discovers that Anne is in a far crueler concentration camp next door, dying. Hannah risks her life, twice, stealing food and sneaking out of her barrack to get food to Anne.

Is It Any Good?

This movie tells an important story, but there's something off about My Best Friend Anne Frank. At the very least, the title is misleading. It's the story of the heroic Hannah, with Anne an oddly secondary, somewhat villainous character. She's the ungrateful friend compared to the saintly Hannah who risks her life to get food to her starving friend. The film takes liberties. Despite a scene in which Hannah digs through the separating wall to catch a glimpse of Anne, by her own account, Hannah never saw Anne. And camp scenes are confusing. Hannah is in a prison with privileges, which isn't really explained. Anne isn't as lucky.

Because so much of the film seems a miss-hit, it's impossible to tell if obvious underlying meanings are deliberate or unconscious. One can't be sure if the filmmakers even see the parallels of cruelties among young friends and the obvious echoes of adult cruelties played out during the war -- of one identity group against another, of racism, prejudice, and genocide. The petty and minor bad acts among young innocent girls line up exactly with the human flaws at the heart of Nazi bias, prejudice, exclusion, and brutality. The movie suggests, however unconsciously, that these are truths that people never seem to learn. Finally, Hannah Goslar has publicly stated that it's her life quest to keep telling the story of the Holocaust in order to prevent it from happening again. However flawed, the film serves at least that purpose.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how it feels to be excluded by people who were once friends. Why do you think Anne treats Hannah badly?

Teenagers reach different levels of maturity at different times so Anne may have been ahead of Hannah in certain ways. Do you think Anne could have handled that difference in a kinder way? What could she have done differently?

How does the minor cruelty Anne displayed to Hannah parallel the cruelty that grownups showed each other during World War II? Do you think there's a connection between how we behave toward friends and family in our everyday lives and how we behave in the greater world when outside events pressure us? What does the movie say about human nature?

Movie Details

  • On DVD or streaming : February 1, 2022
  • Cast : Aiko Beemsterboer , Josephine Arendsen , Lottie Hellingman , Bjorn Freiberg , Roeland Fernhout , Stefan de Waller
  • Director : Ben Sombogaart
  • Studio : Netflix
  • Genre : Drama
  • Run time : 103 minutes
  • MPAA rating : NR
  • Last updated : February 17, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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My Best Friend Anne Frank Review: A New Spin on Her Story

In 'My Best Friend Anne Frank', we see the story from the perspective of her closest friend.

The Holocaust still casts a long shadow over global history, a dark undertone that still sets the scene for how the impacts of fascism and prejudice are viewed today. Millions of individuals—Jews, Romani, Soviet citizens, homosexuals, and many more—were killed during this time , although the actual numbers are unknown and lost in the tide of history. But even in 2022, books about the Holocaust are being banned and popular television hosts have been the source of controversy over their views of the Holocaust.

Schools have been reading the diaries of Anne Frank, a young girl who hid with her family and another family in an annex, ever since they were published and became popular. Frank died at the age of fifteen in a concentration camp due to typhus, but her legacy continued. Years after her death, her diaries were published by her father Otto Frank. He was the only family member to survive the war. It was only recently that their potential betrayer, a Jewish notary, was informally identified as the prime suspect.

My Best Friend Anne Frank takes Anne’s story and switches the perspective to a figure far less known than Frank: her best friend Hannah Goslar, who also goes by her nickname “Hanneli.” Hannah survived the Holocaust and, as of 2022, is still alive. My Best Friend Anne Frank is the first Dutch movie to tackle the topic of Anne Frank’s life, which is interesting considering Anne Frank was German and Dutch. Her family moved to the Netherlands when she was only four years old, and when the Germans occupied the Netherlands, that sealed the fate of many Jews living with the country at the time. The movie was adapted from the 1997 book Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by American author Alison Leslie Gold. The book was written with the help of Goslar herself.

From the Beginning

My Best Friend Anne Frank opens with a domestic scene and portrait of girlhood. Two girls just being more carefree and happy despite the circumstances they will soon find themselves trapped within. They play hide-and-seek, an ugly omen to what their lives will become as they search for the darkest corners to hide inside. Outside in the real world, a Jewish man is being beaten by Germans. The screams echo up into the home, and the horrified girls are unable to walk away. The illusion of peace and tranquility has been broken. The scene of the movie has been set, and although many will know the ending to Anne’s story already, it is time to see it through fresh eyes.

Related: Gina Carano Comments on 'Double Standards' After Whoopi Goldberg Suspension from The View

The movie is a testament to female friendship in the light of the Holocaust. Girls do their makeup and hair in front of mirrors, ignoring the golden stars pinned to their chests, the ones that identify them as Jews, and their floral dresses swing as they walk down the bright streets of the Jewish Quarter. There’s typical girly cattiness among youths: cliques, a best friend turning distant, the feeling of loneliness and not belonging. At times Anne herself can seem a bit mean to Hannah; she ignores her in favor of more cool girls, leaving Hannah alone and without friends, and Anne seems a bit boy-crazy at times.

Anne and Hannah

Anne is everything Hannah is not; Anne kisses boys in movie theaters while running away laughing. Life in the Jewish Quarter seems sweet for a while. Space plays an interesting role here because the outside world reminds them of the reality that they live in. Interiors are a place of freedom, where the girls can play and make prank phone calls, but that is only in the life they live before the camps. When Hannah presents a stuffed animal to a child in the cold barracks, the reception is just as chilly as the freezing downpour they are within.

“I want to see the whole world as an actress or writer,” says Anne Frank in one scene, while Hannah discusses potentially being a nurse. A movie unfolds on the screen before them. In that peaceful moment, when it’s just them and a boy in the seat next to Anne, the whole world is at their fingertips. They discuss getting passports and leaving this place. The world may now know the ending to this story, but at that moment, viewers invest in the innocence of these two girls with normal dreams of being someone. Anne follows up her previous statement with this: she wants to be a famous writer, one known globally. This tragic irony is not lost.

But it is in these moments a gradual realization comes to the surface: these are just normal girls coming-of-age during World War II. When there are no stars on their dresses, they are free to be whoever they wish, have whatever dreams they want in the world. They are not Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, a victim and a survivor of the Holocaust. They are allowed to exist in a space where they are not contained to labels created by faith or identity. These are the moments in which My Best Friend Anne Frank truly shines and offers a glimpse at what a normal life for these two girls could have looked like.

The movie casually switches periods, starting in 1942 then transitions to 1945 when the girls are in concentration camps. Their playful friendship shifts when Hannah realizes that the Frank family did not escape to Switzerland like she thought they did during her time at the concentration camp. Anne lives on the other side of the wall, frail and alone, and her sister is dead. It is during these moments the movie begins to become more fragmented, as the camera lingers too far in the past at times and loses focus of the introductory scenes set in the future.

The harsh coloring of the exchange camp and cool tones is an immediate contrast to the brighter, happier tones of their previous life. This movie is emotional, something that can easily be gauged by the topic and who the characters are, but with the coloring alone, it becomes evident how drastically their lives changed. Up until the moment Hannah discovers Anne’s in the same camp in her, there is a naive little hope and belief inside her that Anne made it to Switzerland and escaped this tragedy. The Nazis are shown to be brutal, even hitting a pregnant woman’s stomach, and unwilling to acknowledge their victims as human beings.

Violence always lingers in the background of the film, but, in real life, Hannah Goslar’s father had secured the family Palestinian papers, which had allowed them certain privileges in the camp. In an interview, she had stated that the only reason they were not killed outright was that they had those papers and a passport from Paraguay. Thus, they were sent to an exchange camp rather than a death camp like Auschwitz. Anne Frank was on the opposite side because she did not have these connections, and Goslar threw food and socks over the barbed wire fence to help her friend. That was the last time she saw her.

Hannah's Existence Outside Of Anne

My Best Friend Anne Frank is an ambitious film, although it falls flat on characterization. Without Anne Frank in the narrative, Hannah Goslar is framed as lost, lacking outside her friendship with Anne. Even with the English title alone, there’s an implication that the movie will ground itself on Hannah’s story, but when her story begins and ends with Anne, it implies a deliberate sense that Hannah does not have a particular meaning outside of Anne’s presence in her life. Without Anne Frank being who she was, perhaps the movie would not have had enough substance to anchor itself to its structure and plot.

But the way that Anne Frank is depicted also draws attention to the source material: Frank’s diaries. Frank in My Best Friend Anne Frank chases boys, ditches her best friend for the popular girls, and she almost seems a bit spoiled at times. The viewers pity Hannah, who stays in this friendship because she does not seem to have any other friends. While Hannah might consider Anne to be her best friend, one could imply from the movie that this notion is a one-sided belief.

The movie was an ambitious effort, one that tries to shoot too high quickly, and it offers a fresh perspective on Anne Frank. Creative liberties may have been taken when it came to the actual depiction of people who existed only a lifetime ago, but it offers a tender depiction of female friendship that is emotional and heartwarming despite the circumstances. As the generation that survived the Holocaust slowly diminishes in numbers, remembering the tragedy and trauma becomes even more significant in today’s world.

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My Best Friend Anne Frank Reviews

movie review my best friend anne frank

[My Best Friend Anne Frank] is bold in ways I didn’t expect it to be. It’s inspiring in the ways I knew it would be but cried over anyway...It’s wholly worthy an addition to the canon of not just Holocaust stories but Jewish stories altogether.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 5, 2023

movie review my best friend anne frank

The movie is inspired by the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar. And while it’s a mostly fictional account, Sombogaart approaches the subject with sincerity and sensitivity.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 16, 2022

Fascism is not a relic of the past, but a threat to humanity as long as the working class does not do away with capitalism.

Full Review | Mar 16, 2022

This movie tells an important story, but there's something off about My Best Friend Anne Frank. At the very least, the title is misleading.https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/my-best-friend-anne-frank

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 1, 2022

movie review my best friend anne frank

Instead of just casting a long shadow with those gloomy eyes and the idea that the audience already knows her end, the Netherlands native Beemsterboer adds more layers to Annes personality.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 12, 2022

movie review my best friend anne frank

The performances in My Best Friend Anne Frank are strong, but the film feels strangely sanitized, unable to go to the depths necessary to convey this important of a story.

Full Review | Feb 3, 2022

movie review my best friend anne frank

"My Best Friend" remembers the playful, rebellious and occasional mean girl that Anne Frank was in a somewhat staid but well-acted film about Anne's last years.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 1, 2022

The credits underline the tin ear of the whole endeavor by declaring that Anne "became what she wanted: world-famous."

Full Review | Feb 1, 2022

movie review my best friend anne frank

You might not think that there is a need for another movie about the teen diarist who died in the Holocaust, but the film is moving and delightful

Full Review | Jan 27, 2022

My Best Friend Anne Frank

movie review my best friend anne frank

Where to Watch

movie review my best friend anne frank

Aiko Beemsterboer (Anne) Stefan de Walle (Vader Frank) Josephine Arendsen (Hannah) Roeland Fernhout (Vader Goslar) Zsolt Trill (Fritz) Hans Peterson (Driver Heinz) Teun Stokkel (Kees) Björn Freiberg (Officer Bruno) Lottie Hellingman (Moeder Goslar) Adél Jordán (Mária)

Ben Sombogaart

Hannah is imprisoned at camp Bergen-Belsen days before it is liberated, and there she thinks back to her time in Amsterdam with her best friend Anne during the first few years of the war. Hannah finds out that Anne is also in the camp, separated by a wall, the night before Hannah and her family are being exchanged for German captives.

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My Best Friend Anne Frank

Summary This story is based on the memoirs of Frank's friend Hannah Goslar.

Directed By : Ben Sombogaart

Written By : Marian Batavier, Paul Ruven

My Best Friend Anne Frank

Where to watch, aiko beemsterboer, josephine arendsen, roeland fernhout, vader goslar, stefan de walle, vader frank, lottie hellingman, moeder goslar, zsolt trill, adél jordán, florien ferdinandus, hans peterson, driver heinz, björn freiberg, officer bruno, tünde szalontay, teun stokkel, golda de leon, pleun nijhuis, veerle peters, margot frank, carmen van zantwijk, balázs veres, drunk officer, critic reviews.

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My Best Friend Anne Frank (2021)

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  • Good story telling
  • The different languages
  • Perfect actors for the rolls (Anne and Hannah)
  • The switch between the languages Dutch and German for non-Dutch and German speakers.
  • Sometimes misses logic (Hannah standing next to a fence talking with Anne with guards towers everywhere).
  • It has virtually no meaning. And to make matters worse - you can't understand half of the movie, as it's not all lines that are translated.

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Against gossip & scandal, independent media network, global stories from local perspective, factual culture news, ‘my best friend anne frank’: the loss of innocence in the face of cruelty .

movie review my best friend anne frank

Lara Glennon is an aspiring screenwriter looking to share her love and passion for all things film and television. She aims to use her writing to shine a light on artists who are working to make change, both in media and in the world. The Hollywood Insider’s focus on substance over gossip is perfect for Lara, as she wants to highlight the good in the world and those who create it. She enjoys spending her time creating and consuming art, searching for unique voices and ideas in media.

Feb 10, 2022

Table of Contents

The Hollywood Insider My Best Friend Anne Frank Review

Photo: ‘My Best Friend Anne Frank’

Childhood innocence is a part of human nature. No matter who you are or where you come from, the children around you will all be filled with the same innocence , the same sense of wonder and adventure. Kids will be kids, they’ll play catch with friends, tease each other about school crushes, and dream about the future. This is constant, we see it portrayed beautifully in Ben Sambogaart’s newest film. 

The difference is, Sombogaart depicts the loss of innocence, the way innocence is broken and chipped away at. ‘My Best Friend Anne Frank’ is the real story of Hannah Goslar and her experience through the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam and the Holocaust. Hannah’s best friend is Anne Frank, a diarist known for her journaling of her experiences in hiding from the Nazis. At its heart, the film is not about the Holocaust, the Nazis, or the concentration camps, but about friendship and the trials and tribulations that come with having a best friend. 

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The Calm Before the Storm 

The film is told in two timelines, one taking place in Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp, and the other in Amsterdam, seen as Hannah reminisces on her former life and her relationship with Anne. In Amsterdam, we just see two best friends, more bothered by which boys in their class they’d like to kiss than the political climate around them. When they see a notice that there are no Jews allowed in the movie theater, they sneak in the back. When their ball rolls towards the Nazi guards, they ask for it back (though, with little success). 

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The liveliness of the Amsterdam sequences is reflected in the cinematography. These scenes are bright and airy, filmed with long tracking shots. The best friends are frequently outside in the daylight, or the light of their windows, dancing around the room or sharing secrets over tea. They are bright and hopeful, planning great adventures for when they can finally leave Amsterdam. 

The Harsh Reality 

Of course, the hope does not last. The reality of Jewish families living under Nazi occupation hits and life becomes dangerous. The pair cannot live their lives freely, as children should be able to. They cannot escape as they are unable to get passports. Eventually, they get taken away. In Bergen-Belsen, Sambogaart opts for dark colors and low light, contrasting the bright and airy memories Hannah recalls. The scenes are dreary and reflect the atrocities that went on every day. 

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The audience, however, still sees the world through Hannah’s eyes and her childlike perspective remains intact. The violence that Hannah witnessed was merciless but never took center stage. The horrors often took place in the background, the focus instead being held on Hannah as we see her innocence crumble and crack. We often would hear gunshots, but not see the shootings take place. Even when violence was happening in her own home it was often shown through a doorway or down the hall, never in the foreground. 

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‘My Best Friend Anne Frank’ – Cast and Crew 

Director Ben Sambogaart is best known for his 2002 film ‘ Twin Sisters ’ which was nominated for an Academy Award . As a Dutch filmmaker, it’s likely that the Netflix release of ‘My Best Friend Anne Frank’ will give Sombogaart increased recognition internationally. His directing is worthy of recognition, his choices were tasteful and effective in adding artistic value to the film as well as reflecting Hannah’s current state of mind. The creative team adapted the film from ‘M emories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend’, a novel written by author Alison Leslie Gold in collaboration with Hannah Goslar herself . 

Hannah is played by Josephine Arendsen , who, at only 16, gives an incredible performance. She plays Hannah so believably, which is a feat because Hannah’s situation is unthinkable to most. She excels in playing an innocent child who doesn’t yet understand the world, let alone the war that she’s living through. As the film progresses she gives an equally powerful performance as a broken kid, stripped of innocence and forced to grow up instantly. 

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Opposite of Arendsen, Aiko Beemsterboer plays Anne. Beemsterboer gives a voice to Anne that we do not usually hear, she’s just a normal kid with big dreams and an equally big mouth. Anne’s screen time is almost entirely in Amsterdam when she can just be a regular child and Beemsterboer plays Anne’s lightheartedness and innocence perfectly. Anne is more adventurous and social than Hannah and each actress shines in their respective traits. 

What Worked, What Could Work Better 

The nonlinear storytelling was incredibly effective in showing the decline of Hannah’s innocence and the state of her friendship with Anne at different points in her life. It was beautifully done and added a level of artistry to the film, as well as breaking the plot into sections that are easier to digest, as the content is so heavy. Hannah was a well-written, sympathetic character, played perfectly by Arendsen. 

The biggest struggle came from Hannah and Anne’s friendship in the film. Hannah and Anne are so different that it often felt that Anne did not respect Hannah, leaving her behind for other friends or boys. Overall, it was not a large issue as it was clear throughout the film that the two loved each other; Even if Anne was a bit brash at times, the core of their friendship did not get lost along the way. 

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An Artistic Take on History 

The Holocaust is a difficult and sensitive topic to cover . It is not something to be taken lightly, especially when portraying real, living people. ‘My Best Friend Anne Frank’ is a beautiful, artistic film, all while being respectful and true to history. There is no sugarcoating the atrocities that took place in Anne and Hannah’s lives. The film balances the horrors of the Holocaust with innocence and character development, all while remaining visually interesting and pleasing. If you’re looking for something gritty and emotional, it’s worth a watch. 

Cast: Aiko Beemsterboer , Josephine Arendsen , Roeland Fernhout , Lottie Hellingman

Director: Ben Sombogaart

Writers: Marian Batavier , Paul Ruven

By Lara Glennon

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘My Best Friend Anne Frank’ On Netflix, A Dutch Drama About The Teen & Her Closest Friendship

Where to stream:.

  • My Best Friend Anne Frank

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  • Stream It Or Skip It

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Holocaust movies are hard to get right; there have been tellings soapy and exploitative, poignant and powerful.  My Best Friend Anne Frank , now streaming on Netflix, doesn’t really fall into any of the aforementioned categories. This historical drama from the Netherlands tells the story of Hannah Goslar and her closest friend Anne Frank in the days leading up to their imprisonment in Nazi camps and the suffering that followed. We’re here to let you know if this drama set during one of history’s darkest periods is worth the watch. 

MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Hannah Goslar (Josephine Arendsen) and Anne Frank (Aiko Beemsterboer) are best friends. The two of them keep each other laughing and cheerful (for the most part), despite the fact that Amsterdam is now occupied by Nazis and they must wear their yellow stars everywhere they go. Despite their attempts to keep things light, the reality of their situation is around every corner; they witness people being beat in the streets, some of their favorite teachers suddenly stop coming to class, men sniff at them in disgust and declare that the place stinks because of them. We soon learn that these warm, sunny days are flashbacks, and that Hannah is currently in a concentration camp with her little sister Gabi while her father battles an illness in the camp’s medical facility.

When Anne and her family go into hiding, Hannah believes the Franks have moved away. After hearing a familiar whistle at the camp, however, Hannah believes Anne is on the other side of the wall, and begins trying to reconnect with her. As Hannah tries to stay alive and keep her little sister safe, she also resolves to bring Anne food, realizing that the people on the other side of the fence have it much worse than they do. The stakes only get higher as the war goes on, and Hannah dreams of seeing her best friend again, reminiscing about their days playing with tea sets and baseballs and sneaking into the cinema. The inevitable dramatic reunion of Hannah and Anne is a devastating one, one that will shape Hannah’s life forever.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: My Best Friend Anne Frank  might remind you a little of  Resistance ,  The Diary of Anne Frank , and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas .

Performance Worth Watching:  Roeland Fernhout delivers the best performance in the film by a long shot. As Hannah Goslar’s father, he is both a source of comfort and sadness, acting as the very real adult symbol of what the Holocaust did to people. While Hannah and Anne live in a bit of a bubble in Amsterdam, Hannah’s father is constantly stressing the severity of the situation, even later as he lies on his death bed in the camp.  My Best Friend Anne Frank  struggles with a lot of the emotional weight of its story, but Fernhout is one of the few performers in the film with the ability to bring viewers to tears. His pain feels that real.

Memorable Dialogue: The dialogue is not exactly the strong point of  My Best Friend Anne Frank , though I was a little baffled by one of the end credit lines about Anne and how she “became what she wanted: world-famous.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take:  My Best Friend Anne Frank  is all over the place. There’s something interesting at the center of it – the friendship between Hannah and Anne – but this is lost in the weak script, lead performances totally lacking in chemistry, and a strangely sanitized depiction of the Holocaust. The film itself is bizarrely structured, flitting back and forth between flashbacks without any real rhyme or reason and failing to develop its characters beyond the surface level. A big part of the problem with  My Best Friend Anne Frank  is probably the fact that it feels pretty low budget, unable to deliver the kind of quality a story like this requires. The whole thing is oddly quaint given its subject matter, even when we’re watching these poor people starve and suffer horrifying treatment at the hands of the Nazis.

My Best Friend Anne Frank seems to spend most of its time building up to the moment when Hannah finally sees Anne again, and even that reunion feels strange, especially given the film’s choice to frequently paint Anne as a bit of a jerk to Hannah. On the subject – the young actresses playing Hannah and Anne also have little-to-no chemistry, which is a crucial component required for My Best Friend Anne Frank to work. Because of this failure, the film doesn’t really set itself up for any kind of success. Holocaust movies are no easy feat, and the simple reality is that if the story isn’t told well (and sensitively), there’s no case to be made for watching the film at all. Why go down such a devastating road when there are hardly any redeeming qualities to be found?

Our Call: SKIP IT. The performances in  My Best Friend Anne Frank  are strong, but the film feels strangely sanitized, unable to go to the depths necessary to convey this important of a story.

Will you stream or skip the Dutch drama #MyBestFriendAnneFrank on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) February 3, 2022

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski .

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movie review my best friend anne frank

FILM REVIEW

My Best Friend Anne Frank

movie review my best friend anne frank

As Nazi soldiers strut around Amsterdam, Hannah Goslar plays with her plucky confidante Anne Frank in a soap operatic war film.

My Best Friend Anne Frank

Those were the days: Josephine Arendsen and Aiko Beemsterboer

Even the title is somewhat belittling. Anne Frank is, of course, the author of the diary which she wrote while holed up in a hidden annex in her father’s house during the German occupation of the Netherlands between 1942 and 1944. The building remains a major tourist attraction in Amsterdam to this day, while her story has been filmed a surprising number of times, including three animated versions. So how best to find a new angle to dramatize this sordid chapter, and the subsequent horrors in the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp? My Best Friend Anne Frank – adapted from the book Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Leslie Gold – begins with the legend ‘This is the story of Hannah Goslar’. As we are soon to learn, Hannah Goslar was Anne Frank’s best friend during the rose-tinted summer of 1942, when they swore their undying allegiance to each other, played ball and joked about French-kissing German boys. It’s hard to believe there was even a war on.   In jarring contrast to these sun-drenched sequences, the film cuts forward three years when Hannah and her little sister Gabi are incarcerated in Bergen-Belsen, with the colour scheme duly adjusted. They survive, barely, in an over-crowded hut where Hannah’s duties include emptying the human waste regularly accumulated in two buckets. The camp guards taunt the starving women by feeding sausages to their Alsatians in front of them, while Hannah fills her little sister’s imagination with imaginary stores overflowing with dairy and baked goods. Just as events could hardly get grimmer, the film jumps back to 1942 and another anecdote of female bonding is relayed in gushing, over-saturated hues. Every new generation of Dutch filmgoers needs its Anne Frank fix and Ben Sombogaart’s (the first big-screen edition from the Netherlands, amazingly) is solidly told, well photographed and emotively scored by Merlijn Snitker. Holland’s Aiko Beemsterboer is a dead ringer for Anne Frank, while the doe-eyed Josephine Arendsen is an impossibly pretty Hannah Goslar, even when her features are smeared in all kinds of filth. Each new Holocaust drama is hard put to top the previous one for pure human degradation, but My Best Friend Anne Frank doesn’t try too hard and is relatively restrained in its depictions of the horror. It seems quite enough when, back in sunny Amsterdam, we learn that Jews are not allowed to use the telephone or to go to the cinema. More chilling is the optimism of Hannah’s father who states over dinner that, “I’m sure it will all work out” – because they have Palestine passports. Even if most of what happens on screen really did occur, it still feels contrived. But Sombogaart’s light touch is to be commended, even if his drama never really rings true. JAMES CAMERON-WILSON Cast : Aiko Beemsterboer, Josephine Arendsen, Roeland Fernhout, Lottie Hellingman, Björn Freiberg, Stefan de Walle, Tünde Szalontay, Adél Jordán. 

Dir Ben Sombogaart, Pro Hans de Weers and Paul Ruven, Ex Pro Ate de Jong, Screenplay Marian Batavier and Paul Ruven, from the book Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Leslie Gold, Ph Jan Moeskops, Pro Des Barbara Westra, Ed Herman P. Koerts, Music Merlijn Snitker, Costumes Linda Bogers, Sound Peter Flamman and Wart Wamsteker. 

Talent United Film & TV/Interstellar Pictures/ FATT Productions-Netflix. 103 mins. The Netherlands. 2021. UK Rel: 1 February 2022. Cert. 15.

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My Best Friend Anne Frank parents guide

My Best Friend Anne Frank Parent Guide

Given its powerful elements, this should be a better film than it is..

Netflix: This drama is based on the friendship between famed diarist Anne Frank and her best friend, Hannah Goslar.

Release date February 1, 2022

Run Time: 103 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kirsten hawkes.

Not even war can dim Anne Frank’s (Aiko Beemsterboer) and Hannah Goslar’s (Josephine Arendsen) zest for living. It’s 1942 and the 14 year old best friends live in Amsterdam under the brutality of Nazi occupation. As Jews, the girls and their families cope with restrictions, random acts of violence, and the constant threat of deportation to a concentration camp. These worries don’t stop the girls from giggling together, having tea parties, playing ball in the park, or obsessing about boys – and promising each other that they will always be together.

Fate has other plans, and the girls are soon separated. Anne and her family spend two years hiding in rooms above her father’s office before being betrayed and sent to Bergen Belsen. And Hannah eventually winds up in the same camp, bearing total responsibility for the care of her little sister. Then she hears a familiar whistle on the other side of the fence…

Given its powerful elements – friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, faith, endurance, self-respect, and dignity in the face of brutality – this should be a better film than it is. The story is authentic and the acting is good, but the script itself seems to be the issue. (This might be partially a translation problem – I watched with subtitles and a dub track. It’s possible that the movie is better in the original Dutch.) Frankly, the biggest challenge for me is in the very core of the film – the friendship between Hannah and Anne. Anne’s diaries depict a girl who’s brave, curious, loyal, and emotionally intense. The Anne who appears in this film is selfish, manipulative, impulsive, reckless, and even cruel. She pressures Hannah into taking great risks, stands by and implicitly encourages another girl to humiliate Hannah, and embarrasses her friend with sexual material she doesn’t want to see. Why Hannah, who is dutiful, loyal, and conscientious, puts up with such a difficult friendship is never made clear. Her willingness to risk her life – and the safety of her sister – for such a demanding friend, is even less understandable.

Parents or teachers who are considering this film for teenage viewing can be assured that content is relatively minor for a Holocaust movie. There are upsetting scenes of violence and brutality perpetrated by Nazis but the worst events take place off screen. There are scenes of girls discussing French kissing and a brief moment where girls look at an anatomy book with explicit illustrations of female genitalia and sexual intercourse. Aside from that, swearing is infrequent and other content non-existent.

Readers of Anne Frank’s diary will certainly find this production interesting. But viewers looking for teen-friendly Holocaust films can certainly do better. (Scroll down for our suggestions.) A subject this weighty deserves a movie of equal heft and My Best Friend Anne Frank simply feels thin and incomplete. It could be that reducing Hannah to “Anne’s friend” instead of a person whose story is compelling on its own is part of the problem. A girl of her courage and loyalty deserves her own account; not to be seen through the prism of her relationship with her famous friend.

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My Best Friend Anne Frank Rating & Content Info

Why is My Best Friend Anne Frank rated TV-14? My Best Friend Anne Frank is rated TV-14 by the MPAA for fear, language, violence, and smoking

Violence:   There are frequent scenes of German soldiers and guards behaving brutally towards Jews in Holland and in the concentration camps. German officers throw a Jewish man on the sidewalk and kick him in the face. German guards shoot a prisoner in the back. A guard kicks a prisoner. A soldier manhandles a pregnant woman and spits at her husband. A woman dies in childbirth off screen. People tear their clothes in mourning. A man slaps his daughter. A man dies in front of his children. Officers scream abuse at women and children. Sexual Content: Girls frequently joke about French kissing. A teenage boy slides his hand up a girl’s dress and kisses her although she seems unwilling. A girl talks about breasts. Girls look through a book with illustrations of female reproductive anatomy and sexual intercourse.  A guard gropes a female prisoner’s chest. Profanity: There are a few suspected German swear words but they are not translated. There are a handful of swear words, including one scatological curse and two terms of deity. Crude terms for women are used on three occasions. Alcohol / Drug Use: Girls pretend that their tea is champagne. Adults smoke cigarettes.

Page last updated May 31, 2022

My Best Friend Anne Frank Parents' Guide

Why do you think Hannah and Anne are best friends? What holds their friendship together? Why do you think Hannah puts up with the way Anne treats her?

Hannah switches her attitude from “What would Anne do?” to “What would Hannah do?” What causes her to make that switch? How does that affect her decisions? Which of these two girls would you rather emulate? Why?

Anne Frank is famous for her diaries but Hannah Goslar is less well known. For more information about Hannah, you can follow these links:

Wikipedia: Hanneli Goslar

Scholastic: Growing Up With Anne

Seeing Hannah and Gabi in Bergen Belsen is shocking, but their experience was not an isolated one. For more about children in the Holocaust, you can read these articles:

Museum of Tolerance: Children of the Holocaust

Wikipedia: Children in the Holocaust

Loved this movie? Try these books…

Obviously, viewers who want to learn more about Anne Frank will read her personal account in Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl.

Newly published, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivanattempts to answer the enduring question: Who turned in the Franks and the other people hiding in the Secret Annex?

This movie is based on the memories of Hannah Goslar. You can read more in Alison Leslie Gold’s Hannah Goslar Remembers. Anne Frank’s peers share their memories of her in We All Wore Stars: Memories of Anne Frank from Her Classmates by Theo Coster and Marjolijn de Jager.

Personal accounts from scores of Holocaust survivors enrich accounts of Anne Frank’s life in Carol Ann Lee’s Anne Frank and the Children of the Holocaust.

Full of photos and illustrations, All About Anne is published by Anne Frank House and is aimed at answering the questions raised by young people about Anne.

Related home video titles:

#Anne Frank: Parallel Stories is a documentary focused on Anne Frank and five Holocaust stories. The survivors, all women, tell their stories in their own words and Helen Mirren narrates Anne Frank’s experience.

Suitable for older kids, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit provides an introduction to the abuses of the Third Reich. When her father falls afoul of the Nazis in 1933, Anna and her family are forced to become refugees and embark on a path that takes them through Switzerland and France before they settle in England.

One of the most compelling movies ever made about the Holocaust, Schindler’s List tells a gripping tale of the real life Oskar Schindler who used his factory as a way to keep Jews out of the concentration camps.

The Germans did their best to keep the world in ignorance of the horrors of the concentration camps – and they were assisted by willful blindness on the part of many nations. The Auschwitz Report tells the true story of two Slovak Jews who escaped from Auschwitz with damning evidence of exactly what was going on in the camps.

Sent to England for safety at the beginning of the war, a young violinist later feels the horrors of the Holocaust overwhelm his life in The Song of Names.

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movie review my best friend anne frank

MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK

"gripping holocaust drama".

movie review my best friend anne frank

What You Need To Know:

MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK is a historical, biographical drama on Netflix about the lives of Anne Frank and her best friend, Hannah. The movie begins with the girls playing a game in the early days of World War II in the Netherlands. Anne and Hannah promise to be friends and do everything together. However, when Hitler cracks down on the Jews living in the Netherlands, they get separated and eventually wind up together in a Nazi labor camp, where Anne is starving to death.

MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK is a gripping and chilling reminder of the evils of Hitler’s National Socialist tyranny during World War II and the Holocaust. It also tells a heartwarming story about friendship and courage when Hannah risks her life to help get some food to her friend, Anne. The movie has a strong moral, biblical worldview. The characters talk about God delivering them from their dire situation. That said, MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK contains some disturbing violence, several obscenities, some lewd references, and briefly depicted nudity in a biology book. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

Miscellaneous Immorality: Moderate level of miscellaneous immorality such as greed, revenge, disregard for life, and lust.

More Detail:

MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK is a historical, biographical drama on Netflix about Anne Frank’s best friend, Hannah Elizabeth, before and during their internment in a concentration camp during the Holocaust in 1944. MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK is a gripping, movie that gives viewers a front row seat of the horrors that Hannah, Anne and many other victims endured at the hands of National Socialist Germany.

The movie begins with Anne and Elizabeth playing a game of hide and seek with her friend Hannah, but they quickly realize Hannah’s father has been taken by Nazi soldiers. From innocently tossing the ball back and forth or talking about which boy to kiss, the movie humanizes Anne Frank with a look at what her life was like before Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands. However, it offers a spin by focusing on Anne’s best friend Hannah and her heroism rather than Anne Frank’s tragic story.

Anne and Hannah promise to be friends and stay together forever. Anne and Hannah do everything together, including watching movies in the back of the theater, making crank calls and making breakfast. However, when Hannah gets home, her father tells the family they want to leave the country, but the Germans won’t let them leave. Hannah says perhaps Anne’s father can get them passports, but he won’t allow it.

Hannah and Anne’s relationship becomes strained when Anne gets a new friend, Coco, and the two think Hannah is too immature. Getting into a fight with them, Hannah storms off in anger, and the next day finds out Anne and her family have gone to Switzerland. In reality, of course, Anne and her family have gone into hiding in a secret attic.

At this point, German soldiers come for Hannah’s family, but Hannah’s mother is pregnant, and they can’t travel. Going into premature labor, the mom and baby die.

Hannah and her younger sister are separated from their father and taken to Bergen-Belsen, one of the notorious Nazi labor camps. One night, Hannah realizes Anne is near her, in another section of the camp. Hannah puts her life on the line to get some food to her best friend, Anne.

From starvation to random killings, MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK is a bone chilling reminder of the horrible treatment of Jews and other people by Hitler’s National Socialist regime in Germany during the Holocaust. Aiko Mila Beemsteroer and Josephine Arendsen deliver stellar performances as Anne Frank and her best friend, respectively. The cinematography is excellent, with wonderful use of filming life before the camp in bright colors and the scenes in the camp in dark, greyish colors. The wardrobes and sets also add to the movie’s authenticity. The emphasis on Hannah’s life rather than Anne’s is a refreshing, informative historical twist as well. Rather than just focusing on Anne’s tragic story, the movie stresses Hannah’s heroism and bravery to help Anne during her time in the camp. Viewers also get an unseen look into Anne and Hannah’s lives before the Holocaust. This is something movies about Anne Frank usually don’t do, if ever. By telling its story in flashbacks and flashforwards, the movie keeps the plot moving, with many twists and turns the audience doesn’t see coming. Parents can use this movie to discuss with their older teenagers about the historical events surrounding the Holocaust.

MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK has a strong moral, biblical worldview. The characters believe God will take care of them and that He decides their fate. Also, they talk about God delivering them from their dire situation. There are several scenes of Jews praying in Hebrew.

Christians will like the movie’s biblical themes. The belief that “God will liberate them” is a reminder to viewers that God is still in control despite one’s circumstances. Hannah’s devotion to Anne is heartwarming to watch as that love for each other is what keeps them going until the end of Anne’s life.

Despite all this, MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK has some disturbing violence. There are scenes of starved women, people being randomly beaten and shot as well as people dying from starvation. The movie also has several obscenities, implied sex, talk of kissing boys, and female nudity in a biology book. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

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COMMENTS

  1. 'My Best Friend Anne Frank' Review: Separated by the Nazis

    It's a haunting perspective to remember when watching " My Best Friend Anne Frank ," a Dutch film told from the point of view of Hannah. Ben Sombogaart's costume drama shuttles between ...

  2. My Best Friend Anne Frank

    TOP CRITIC. The movie is inspired by the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar. And while it's a mostly fictional account, Sombogaart approaches the subject with sincerity ...

  3. My Best Friend Anne Frank Movie Review

    Our review: Parents say Not yet rated Add your rating. Kids say ( 2 ): This movie tells an important story, but there's something off about My Best Friend Anne Frank. At the very least, the title is misleading. It's the story of the heroic Hannah, with Anne an oddly secondary, somewhat villainous character. She's the ungrateful friend compared ...

  4. 'My Best Friend Anne Frank' Summary & Review: Tough And Insightful

    But on December 1st, 1940, Anne Frank disappeared with no letter for Hannah. This throws her into a well of depression. Once the pregnant mother, Mutti, dies, their fates are sealed when the arresting officers return and bang on their doors. At the concentration camps, Hannah is with her sister, Gabi, and their father is lying in the medical ...

  5. My Best Friend Anne Frank Review: A New Spin on Her Story

    My Best Friend Anne Frank is the first Dutch movie to tackle the topic of Anne Frank's life, which is interesting considering Anne Frank was German and Dutch. Her family moved to the Netherlands ...

  6. My Best Friend Anne Frank (2021)

    My Best Friend Anne Frank: Directed by Ben Sombogaart. With Aiko Beemsterboer, Stefan de Walle, Josephine Arendsen, Roeland Fernhout. Hannah is imprisoned at camp Bergen-Belsen days before it is liberated, and there she thinks back to her time in Amsterdam with her best friend Anne during the first few years of the war. Hannah finds out that Anne is also in the camp, separated by a wall, the ...

  7. My Best Friend Anne Frank

    Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 5, 2023. The movie is inspired by the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar. And while it's a mostly fictional account, Sombogaart ...

  8. My Best Friend Anne Frank (2021)

    Aiko Beemsterboer (Anne)Stefan de Walle (Vader Frank)Josephine Arendsen (Hannah)Roeland Fernhout (Vader Goslar)Zsolt Trill (Fritz)Hans Peterson (Driver Heinz)Teun Stokkel (Kees)Björn Freiberg ...

  9. My Best Friend Anne Frank

    My Best Friend Anne Frank. ... Add My Review Where to Watch Netflix (Subscription required) Summary This story is based on the memoirs of Frank's friend Hannah Goslar. Drama Directed By: Ben Sombogaart Written By: ... We rank every one of the British director's movies by Metascore, from his debut Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels to his ...

  10. My Best Friend Anne Frank (2021)

    As "My Best Friend Anne Frank" (2021 release from the Netherlands; 106 min.) opens, it is "1942 Amsterdam", and we are introduced to Hannah Goslar and Anne Frank, BFFs who are about 12-13 years old. As girls that age tend to do, they muse about boys, dreams, their parents. Except that of course they are Jewish, and Amsterdam is occupied by the ...

  11. 'My Best Friend Anne Frank': The Loss of Innocence in the Face of

    Hannah's best friend is Anne Frank, a diarist known for her journaling of her experiences in hiding from the Nazis. At its heart, the film is not about the Holocaust, the Nazis, or the concentration camps, but about friendship and the trials and tribulations that come with having a best friend. Related article: EXCLUSIVE: 'Dune' Full ...

  12. My Best Friend Anne Frank Review: A haunting and poignant account of

    My Best Friend Anne Frank Review : A haunting and poignant account of Hannah Goslar's friendship with Anne Frank Sreeparna Sengupta, TNN, Updated: Feb 3, 2022, 12.49 PM IST Critic's Rating: 3.5 /5

  13. My Best Friend Anne Frank

    My Best Friend Anne Frank (Dutch: Mijn beste vriendin Anne Frank) is a 2021 Dutch biographical drama film directed by Ben Sombogaart. The film tells the story of the friendship between Hanneli Goslar and Anne Frank and the story is told from Goslar's perspective. The film is based on Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend written by American author Alison Leslie Gold.

  14. 'My Best Friend Anne Frank' Netflix Review: Stream It Or Skip It?

    Our Take: My Best Friend Anne Frank is all over the place. There's something interesting at the center of it - the friendship between Hannah and Anne - but this is lost in the weak script ...

  15. My Best Friend Anne Frank

    My Best Friend Anne Frank - adapted from the book Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Leslie Gold - begins with the legend 'This is the story of Hannah Goslar'. As we are soon to learn, Hannah Goslar was Anne Frank's best friend during the rose-tinted summer of 1942, when they swore their undying ...

  16. My Best Friend Anne Frank (2021) • Movie Reviews • Visual Parables

    Dutch filmmaker Ben Sombogaart enlarges our knowledge and appreciation of the beloved Anne Frank in this new film, reportedly a hit in the Netherlands. Based on the book Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Leslie Gold, it tells the story of the friendship between Anne and Hanneli Goslar from 1942 to 1945.

  17. Watch My Best Friend Anne Frank

    My Best Friend Anne Frank 2021 | Maturity Rating: TV-14 | 1h 43m | Drama From Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Hannah Goslar's love for her best friend Anne Frank is her greatest form of resistance.

  18. My Best Friend Anne Frank Movie Review for Parents

    My Best Friend Anne Frank Rating & Content Info . Why is My Best Friend Anne Frank rated TV-14? My Best Friend Anne Frank is rated TV-14 by the MPAA for fear, language, violence, and smoking . Violence: There are frequent scenes of German soldiers and guards behaving brutally towards Jews in Holland and in the concentration camps.German officers throw a Jewish man on the sidewalk and kick him ...

  19. Watch My Best Friend Anne Frank

    From Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Hannah Goslar's love for her best friend is her greatest form of resistance. Watch trailers & learn more.

  20. My Best Friend Anne Frank

    Based on the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their harrowing reunion in a concentration camp.SUBSC...

  21. Watch My Best Friend Anne Frank

    My Best Friend Anne Frank. 2021 | Maturity Rating: TV-14 | 1h 43m | Drama. Based on the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their harrowing reunion in a concentration camp. Starring: Josephine Arendsen, Aiko Mila Beemsterboer, Roeland Fernhout.

  22. MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK

    More Detail: MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK is a historical, biographical drama on Netflix about Anne Frank's best friend, Hannah Elizabeth, before and during their internment in a concentration camp during the Holocaust in 1944. MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK is a gripping, movie that gives viewers a front row seat of the horrors that Hannah, Anne and ...

  23. Watch My Best Friend Anne Frank

    My Best Friend Anne Frank. 2021 | Maturity Rating: U/A 16+ | 1h 43m | Drama. From Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Hannah Goslar's love for her best friend is her greatest form of resistance. Starring: Josephine Arendsen,Aiko Mila Beemsterboer,Roeland Fernhout.