Anton Lesser, Charlie MacGechan, David Kross, drama, Jeremy Neumark Jones, Lior Geller, Michael Fox, movies, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Poland, reviews, The World Will Tremble, World War II
March 23, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Lior Geller
Some language in German with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in Poland, in 1939, the dramatic film “The World Will Tremble” (based on true events) features an all-white group of people representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: The Nazis invade Poland and secretly take Jewish people to death camps, but two of the prisoners escape so that they can warn people about this about this genocide.
Culture Audience: “The World Will Tremble” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in well-acted historical dramas about the Holocaust.
“The World Will Tremble” is a harrowing depiction of the beginning of the Holocaust and how the Nazis’ heinous murders of Jewish people were kept a secret from the world for too long. Oliver Jackson-Cohen leads the cast with a riveting performance. It goes without saying that many scenes in this movie will be very hard to watch. However, this drama represents a part of history that should never be forgotten.
Written and directed by Lior Geller, “The World Will Tremble” (based on true events) takes place in Poland, in 1939, when the Nazis, under Adolf Hitler’s leadership in Germany, invaded Poland. (“The World Will Tremble” was actually filmed in Bulgaria.) Jewish people were rounded up and put in ghettos, where they received limited food and were deprived of other resources.
Then, Nazi soldiers promised the captured Jews that they would be transported to other areas to get work. But it was a lie. The imprisoned Jews would often be separated from their families and taken to death camps, where they were tortured, starved and murdered.
“The World Will Tremble” begins by showing three men who have become close friends during their death camp ordeal: Solomon “Szłamek” Wiener (played by Jackson-Cohen), Michael Podchlebnik (played by Jeremy Neumark Jones) and Wolf (played by Charlie MacGechan), who are kept alive only when the Nazis find them useful for grueling labor. But the prisoners can be murdered at any time, for any reason. And by the end of the movie, one of the friends and many more will be dead.
“The World Will Tremble” shows what happens when two of these prisoners escape. Cast members in supporting roles includes David Kross as a ruthless Nazi commandant named Lange; Michael Fox as a death camp prisoner named Monik; and Anton Lesser as Rabbi Schulman, a clergyman who plays a pivotal role in the story. “The World Will Tremble” is filled with tension and heat-wrenching scenes, but is also a story of resilience during despair. Jackson-Cohen and Neumark Jones give haunting and soulful performances. The movie is an important history lesson and a powerful statement that this genocide must never happen again.
Vertical released “The World Will Tremble” in select U.S. cinemas on March 14, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on April 8, 2025.