Vague Visages’ Irena’s Vow review contains minor spoilers. Louise Archambault’s 2023 movie features Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott and Andrzej Seweryn. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews, along with cast/character summaries, streaming guides and complete soundtrack song listings.

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Hollywood-style melodrama devalues Irena’s Vow, a 2023 Holocaust film about a Polish woman who hides several Jews in a basement. Screenwriter Dan Gordon — whose credits include Wyatt Earp (1994), The Hurricane (1999), Rambo: Last Blood (2019) and Big George Foreman (2023) — contrasts extreme violence with corny jokes and tearjerker moments, perhaps not anticipating that Canadian actress Sophie Nélisse could simply carry the film on her own. A movie like Irena’s Vow will secure a high audience score over time because of the subject matter, yet it’s important for critics like myself to point out some of the obvious flaws.

Directed by Louise Archambault (And the Birds Rained Down) and based on a true story, Irena’s Vow takes place in 1939 Poland. Nélisse stars as Irena Gut Opdyke, a Catholic woman with “Germanic features” who supervises a group of Jewish tailors. She ultimately moves in with a Nazi officer named Rugmer (Dougray Scott), whose naïveté and romantic feelings for the protagonist allow her to secretly transport several Jews into the cellar. Archambault and Gordon provoke the audience through the brutal murder of a baby, along with the inclusion of a snarling, whistling Nazi officer who seems like he was plucked from a Quentin Tarantino movie. Later, during the second act, Rugmer threatens to “exterminate” a bunch of literal rats in his home; a wink-of-the-eye sequence that’s executed with poor taste while insulting the audience’s intelligence. However, Irena’s Vow surprisingly improves with each act — primarily due to Nélisse’s naturalistic approach and emotional depth — which makes the film somewhat of a confusing watch, as one can appreciate the message and historic relevance but also struggle with the storytelling approach.

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Irena’s Vow jams in a bunch of Screenwriting 101 concepts: save a cat for audience sympathy, kill a darling to establish the protagonist and villain dynamics. Interestingly, Rugmer doesn’t function as a traditional Big Bad (or even the main one, arguably), but rather as a whiny Nazi officer with a crush who may or may not help the protagonist with her mission. The “will he or won’t he” angle translates to some impressive acting moments for Nélisse, most notably when tears drip down her face as the titular character makes an unfortunate decision, simply to protect her plan. Fans of Showtime’s Yellowjackets already understand Nélisse’s industry potential, but the script for Irena’s Vow doesn’t include any lengthy monologues that allow the lead to flex. Instead, the protagonist mostly reacts to Rugmer, whose overall character sketch is bizarre and borderline unbelievable. Stylistically, there’s little to overcome the core storytelling flaws, as cinematographer Paul Sarossy mostly relies on static wide shots and slow pans, while Archambault plays it safe with her directorial approach.

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A quiet moment in Irena’s Vow’s second half seems like it would’ve been the ideal starting point. The protagonist, after making a crucial life decision, sits in bed and states, “What we do is who we are.” In this sequence, Irena’s Vow captures all of the film’s thematic violence and existentialism with just seven words. The audience already understands the historical context, so the suspense emerges from the protagonist’s mindset and decision-making process. Why not let Nélisse do her thing from minute one? Why all the audience winks in a Holocaust film? Unfortunately, it takes about 90 minutes for Irena’s Vow to find its aesthetic and narrative groove.

Irena’s Vow released theatrically on April 15, 2024.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.

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