The most underrated World War 2 film of the 21st century is streaming on Disney+ | Films | Entertainment

Hundreds of World War 2 movies have been made over the years, with the very best ranked in our Top 10, which saw Saving Private Ryan miss out on No 1. Yet occasionally a classic goes under the radar despite critical acclaim and the most underrated of recent years is Terrence Malick’s three-hour epic set in Nazi Germany.

2019’s A Hidden Life is based on the true story of an unsung hero, Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector who refused to fight for Hitler. This beautiful and devastating drama follows his story from life on his peaceful Austrian farm to his imprisonment awaiting his treason trial.

Meanwhile, the devout Catholic’s wife and children are ostracised by their neighbours, who are loyal to the Nazi regime. Tragically, Franz was sentenced to death, but the film captures his unwavering resilience to his faith and conscience as he stood up to evil. A Hidden Life also features the final performances of original John Wick villain Michael Nyqvist and Downfall’s Hitler actor Bruno Ganz.

The film’s title is taken from George Eliot’s Middlemarch: “For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” This in turn was inspired by the Bible verse Colossians 3:3: “For you died, and [now] your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

A Hidden Life, a critically acclaimed masterpiece, is now streaming on Disney+.