Netflix’s tensest WWII thriller ends before the war even begins

When it comes to historical dramas, there’s little that can compete with World War II. Whether it’s movies, books, or video games, it’s the great historical tragedy that keeps on giving.

There are innumerable films about the events of World War II itself, but the lead-up to the biggest military conflict of the 20th century is just as fascinating. That’s the subject of a forgotten Netflix gem that’s due for rediscovery.

Munich: The Edge of War brings us to the border of Armageddon

The ride up is as tense as the plunge

Munich: The Edge of War begins in 1932, when a trio of friends is graduating from Oxford University: there’s Englishman Hugh (George MacKay), German transplant Paul (Jannis Niewöhner), and Paul’s girlfriend Lena (Liv Lisa Fries), who’s also German. Paul is very excited about Germany’s future as a country, but Lena is concerned. If you know history, you know Lena has the right of it.

Years later, Paul is working as a translator in Germany under Adolf Hitler (Ulrich Matthes) while Hugh is working as a personal secretary for British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons). Lena has suffered a horrible fate we learn about later. Paul and Hugh had a falling out a while back thanks to Hugh’s growing nationalism and support of the Nazi party, but Paul quietly became an anti-fascist after he saw the extent of Hitler’s megalomania close up. The two former friends meet years later at the 1938 Munich conference, where European leaders met with Hitler in an attempt to avert a war that was looking increasingly inevitable.

Paul and Hugh reconnect and hatch a desperate plan to stop Hitler before World War II begins in earnest. We know going into the movie that it doesn’t work, but Munich: The Edge of War does such a good job of fleshing out its characters that it feels like there’s a lot at stake anyway.

Munich: The Edge of Your Seat

This is an A+ spy drama

Munich: The Edge of War has a lot going for it. The acting is fantastic across the board. The two young leads are great, with George MacKay putting his fresh-faced innocent look to good use as Hugh, and Jannis Niewöhner convincingly taking Paul through several eras of his life.

But Hugh and Paul are both fictional creations pulled from the pages of Robert Harris’ bestselling novel, even if they were inspired by real people. In handsome period dramas like this, we’re always interested in the people playing the real-life historical figures, and they do not disappoint here. Irons is typically fantastic as Neville Chamberlain, one of the controversial leaders in English history. His voice is commanding and calming, but watching him, you’re always asking yourself if he knows something you don’t or if he’s just hopelessly naive.

Meanwhile, Ulrich Matthes gives us one of the all-time great interpretations of Adolf Hitler, which is a bit of a dubious honor but an honor nonetheless. Movies like Downfall (2004) portray the dictator as a raving madman. Matthes plays him as much quieter and more calculating, but there’s a mania behind his eyes you fear could explode at any minute.

Munich supports these performances with fantastic production design and period-accurate cars, buildings, hairstyles, and costumes. It’s a great movie to look at, and the score by Isobel Waller-Bridge is tense and subtle. In fact, the movie is so absorbing that you may forget that it’s mostly just people talking. There’s little in the way of literal action in Munich, but a lot happens, and everything feels significant.

Is Munich: The Edge of War historically accurate?

A matter of interpretation

Netflix’s tensest WWII thriller ends before the war even begins

As mentioned, Paul and Hugh were not real people, although they do interact with a lot of real-life history. The plot of the movie revolves around the Hossbach Memorandum, which outlined Hitler’s intention to conquer Europe even as he promised European leaders otherwise. You can definitely learn a thing or two from watching this movie.

One of the biggest controversies around Munich: The Edge of War involves its outlook on the 1938 Munich Agreement, where the nations of Europe agreed to let Hitler annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in an attempt to avoid a wider European war. Obviously, this did not work, and is looked back on today as a foolhardy endeavor. Neville Chamberlain is a controversial historical figure largely because he pushed for this policy of Appeasement.

However, there are some historians who hold that the Munich Agreement effectively delayed the war and allowed countries like England time to prepare for a bigger conflict. That’s the angle that Munich: Edge of War takes, and not everyone will agree. If you watch the movie with other history nerds, it could lead to some spirited debate.

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To war (movies)!

This is only one of the great World War II movies available to watch on streaming. And if you prefer your war movies a little more fantastical, there are plenty out there that have nothing to do with real-world history.