Simon and the Oaks

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Simon and the Oaks

2012

2h 2m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

56%

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34 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Simon goes to college where he meets Isak, the son of a wealthy Jewish bookseller who has fled the persecution. The families of the two boys become intertwined in unexpected ways as war wages across Europe.

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Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

11/09/2012

2.5/5

Significant enough to be name-checked in the title, the trees hang over the film, threatening to impose heavy metaphor on what is otherwise a straightforward family saga.

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Tom Long

Detroit News

11/09/2012

B-

"Simon and the Oaks" branches out in ways unusual and interesting enough to hold your attention and then even shake it a bit.

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Stanley Kauffmann

The New Republic

11/02/2012

The sheer sincerity of everyone concerned bolsters the whole enterprise so that Ohlin's historical novel-on-film holds us.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

09/23/2020

3.5/4.0

It's simply a good film that could have been so much more.

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Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

08/06/2019

3/4

It hits all the right notes amid potentially cliched elements, adding up to a film of beguiling skill with a surprising emotional punch.

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Kelly Jane Torrance

Washington Examiner

12/20/2018

2.5/4

It deserves credit for exploring a familiar tragedy in a new way, giving Swedes and non-Swedes alike much to think about as we consider our culpability in the many crimes, small and large, humanity is sadly still capable of committing.

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Chris A

@RT65314598 05/11/2024

I loved it. Very intense movie with great performances. The highlight for me was Bill Skarsgard's terrific performance.

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Gorptholemew T

@RT35369717 04/16/2024

🍅 6.3/10 It was very interesting in the beginning, and held my attention until they skipped a whole entire fucking war I mean at least Bill Skarsgård was there, so why am I complaining?. Honestly even with the problems this film still contains some emotional beats that do land pretty well as it's complimented by the cinematography and great acting especially by bill skarsgård but it has some sort of atmosphere or comforting element that at least makes it a positive for me. Grade B

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09/25/2016

Well made Swedish WWII film with good cinematography and production design. I wish it had a bit more emotional pull, but maybe a second viewing down the road will endear it more to me.

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06/30/2016

good period pic-gr8 story

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01/03/2016

January or February 2012after Palm Spring and At Landmark's suggestion.

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12/26/2015

The first half was good but this was too many movies crammed into one.

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Lisa Ohlin

Director

Bill Skarsgård

Simon

Helen Sjöholm

Karin

Jan Josef Liefers

Ruben

Karl Linnertorp

Isak

Katharina Schüttler

Iza

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Synopsis

Simon goes to college where he meets Isak, the son of a wealthy Jewish bookseller who has fled the persecution. The families of the two boys become intertwined in unexpected ways as war wages across Europe.

Director: Lisa Ohlin
Producer: Jessica Ask, Leander Carell, Marc-Daniel Dichant, Sveinung Golimo, Per Holst, Patrick Knippel, Steffen Reuter
Screenwriter: Marnie Blok, Lisa Ohlin
Distributor: The Film Arcade
Production Co: Filmkameratene A/S, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv, Film Väst, Götafilm, Asta Film
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Swedish
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 3, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $75.3K
Runtime: 2h 2m