Even in the darkest of times, there are glimmers of light. Nick Davis’ Holocaust documentary This Ordinary Thing shifts the focus from the perpetrators of the crimes to the people who risked their lives to help. Through a treasure trove of archival footage and first-person anecdotes, Davis uses these courageous stories to underscore the danger of a society that stays silent as fascism creeps in.
The film weaves together testimony from 45 non-Jews who worked to help their Jewish friends and neighbors during World War II. It jumps between personal memories to sequentially tell the story of the Holocaust, starting with an assessment of how Europe succumbed to Hitler’s influence. From there, it dives into the harrowing tales of false walls and hollow couches hiding families as Gestapo raids tear through homes. Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim individuals put themselves in harm’s way as an act of resistance against the Nazi regime. This wasn’t just happening in Germany or Poland, but across Europe, including stories from Ukraine, France, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and more. In some instances, it was one or two children who would assimilate into their new families. Other times, it was up to 20 Jews at once, fleeing into the forest during weekly raids. While all the stories differ, the common thread is the bravery and creativity of ordinary people who were given every reason not to help.
“The film is a horrifying but hopeful reminder that good can prevail against evil.”
The film is meticulously structured, telling what feels like one cohesive story from 45 different perspectives. Davis pieces each incident together like a complex puzzle, managing to maintain a tension that keeps the audience engaged throughout. A constant barrage of old imagery with narration can get monotonous, but editor Josh Freed deserves a lot of credit for keeping each moment fresh, cutting between scenes with so much intention while perfectly matching the narration. The voice performances from the star-studded cast are the cherry on top, giving each story so much soul. Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons, Bill Camp, and Carrie Coon are just a few of the familiar voices you’ll hear, channeling the expressiveness and heart of the real people at the center of them.
This Ordinary Thing ends with the collective memory of liberation, revealing photos of the faces to match the stories we’ve been listening to throughout the film. It’s a poignant exclamation point, highlighting the fact that the heroes in the film aren’t so different from you and I. It serves as a horrifying but hopeful reminder that good can prevail against evil. And as wars and genocides still rage on across the globe, it acts as a pressing motivation to stand up for what’s right.
"…Even in the darkest of times, there are glimmers of light"
