Synopsis
Harry Haft is a boxer who fought fellow prisoners in the concentration camps to survive. Haunted by the memories and his guilt, he attempts to use high-profile fights against boxing legends like Rocky Marciano as a way to find his first love again.
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Cast
- Ben FosterHarry Haft
- Billy MagnussenSchneider
- Vicky KriepsMiriam Wofsoniker
- Peter SarsgaardEmory Anderson
- Saro EmirzePeretz Haft
- Danny DeVitoCharley Goldman
- John LeguizamoBill "Pepe" Miller
- Dar ZuzovskyLeah Krichinsky
- Laurent PapotJean
- Paul BatesLouis Barclay
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
We believe every frame of this performance, whether Harry is an emaciated figure in the ring in the concentration camp, a formidable opponent as a pro fighter in America or an older man who seems to have found some measure of peace in his life, though the horrific memories will never die. - 83
The Playlist
The Survivor is occasionally infected by the aridness of the handsome, well-made historical film — it feels old-fashioned, in both the complimentary and pejorative senses. But some of that is purposeful and even a little subversive. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Ben Foster goes through more than one striking transformation here, changing body and soul while neither shying away from nor overdramatizing the uglier aspects of the man’s life. - 80
Variety
The Survivor is a Holocaust movie that’s fresh enough to make you laugh between the tears, the gasps of terror, the long road out of the inferno. - 75
TheWrap
The Survivor needs to be an unpleasant movie to watch, because you don’t want to simply use Nazi atrocities to advance the plot. So Levinson doles them out, makes them shock and then ties them into the postwar Haft standing in a ring and enduring merciless beatings. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
It’s a long film, and the payoff might not be enough for some. But as a moody story about moral dilemmas and moving beyond the past, The Survivor outlasts its 129 minutes. - 70
Screen Daily
There’s no shortage of familiar elements here, and yet one can’t deny the empathy Levinson brings to the material. - 60
The Guardian
The Survivor wins on points, a decent and honourably intended picture about one man’s ordeal in the horror of the Holocaust and the heartbreak that came afterwards.
