The Zookeeper's Wife

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2:21

The Zookeeper's Wife

PG-13

2017

2h 5m

History

Drama

Biography

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Popcornmeter

64%

Tomatometer

180 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

The time is 1939 and the place is Poland, homeland of Antonina Zabinski and her husband, Dr. Jan Zabinski. The Warsaw Zoo flourishes under Jan's stewardship and Antonina's care. When their country is invaded by the Nazis, Jan and Antonina are forced to report to the Reich's newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck. The Zabinskis covertly begin working with the Resistance and put into action plans to save the lives of hundreds from what has become the Warsaw Ghetto.

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Critics Consensus

The Zookeeper's Wife has noble intentions, but is ultimately unable to bring its fact-based story to life with quite as much impact as it deserves.

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Valerie Complex

Affinity Magazine

Jun 10, 2017

2/5

The film could have been an excellent introduction to a relatively unknown historical figure, but it doesn't eloquently capture the essence of their real life struggle.

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Jake Wilson

The Age (Australia)

May 10, 2017

2/5

Questions persist about the tone and approach.

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David Stratton

The Australian

May 5, 2017

3/5

Caro creates some impressive scenes, some involving the fates of the animals, one involving a mother and daughter who think they've escaped. But on the whole the film never quite manages to create the required mood.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Aug 20, 2022

4/5

“The Zookeeper’s Wife” may not satisfy those looking for a more visceral experience, but not every Holocaust story requires that approach. Many of these stories weren’t as pronounced, yet they were just as powerful and inspirational. This is such a story.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Aug 17, 2021

3/4

The Zookeeper's Wife is an accomplished picture, offering a fascinating history lesson even as it remains wholly topical.

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Jul 18, 2021

Dr. Jan Żabiński and Antonina Żabińska were named to the Righteous Among the Nations and The Zookeeper's Wife shows why.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 7, 2026

The Zookeeper's Wife = A *3.5* star Movie...

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Martin B

@RT44235356 Oct 23, 2023

Why the zookeepers wife because it was Chastain? The husband took the greater risks. If you're a parent your first duty to your children is to keep them safe. The recklessness that this couple exposed their children to as written was hard to watch. The war ending, Chastain's character who has endured incredible deprivation and humiliation decides that she can't take any more and says "you disgust me" putting everything she had sacrificed fir at risk. But none of the family died even after they all were thrown to the winds. It was poetic license run amok for the sake of having a script have a proper beginning, middle and ending. Somehow when it's history it's doesn't seem proper to bastardize events like that simply to make a movie. That sort of story should have been left to the documentarian's.

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Thomas S

@RT38038238 Jun 18, 2023

Very hard going at times

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Justin V

@RT90662955 Jan 27, 2023

the story behind must be amazing, but the horror or the situation is nowhere to be seen. still moving and watchable. the scenes are too clean and romanticized to do justice to the realities faced.

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Aug 2, 2022

Had the potential to be so much better but Hollywood as usual ruined it.

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Jun 21, 2022

The zoo keepers wife is a dramatic, tearjeaking, heart warming movie.

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Niki Caro

Director

Jessica Chastain

Antonina Zabinski

Johan Heldenbergh

Jan Zabinski

Michael McElhatton

Jerzyk

Daniel Brühl

Lutz Heck

Iddo Goldberg

Maurycy Fraenkel

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Synopsis

The time is 1939 and the place is Poland, homeland of Antonina Zabinski and her husband, Dr. Jan Zabinski. The Warsaw Zoo flourishes under Jan's stewardship and Antonina's care. When their country is invaded by the Nazis, Jan and Antonina are forced to report to the Reich's newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck. The Zabinskis covertly begin working with the Resistance and put into action plans to save the lives of hundreds from what has become the Warsaw Ghetto.

Director: Niki Caro
Producer: Jeff Abberley, Jamie Patricof, Diane Miller Levin, Kim Zubick
Screenwriter: Angela Workman
Distributor: Focus Features
Production Co: Scion Films, Electric City Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Disturbing Images|Brief Sexuality|Violence|Nudity|Smoking|Thematic Elements)
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 31, 2017, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 20, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.4M
Runtime: 2h 5m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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