The Painted Bird 2019

In a war-torn region of German-occupied Eastern Europe during World War II, a young boy finds himself living with his elderly aunt. Following her sudden death, he is caught off guard and inadvertently ignites a fire in their home, leading him to flee into the unknown. His journey unfolds into a series of harrowing encounters marked by ignorance, exploitation, and brutality.

Upon reaching his first village, the boy is sold to an old healer. Unfortunately, he is soon scapegoated for a series of misfortunes and cast into a river. His next refuge is with a miller and his wife; however, this sanctuary quickly turns dark when the miller commits a heinous act, gouging out the eyes of a younger man who he suspects of being affectionate towards his wife. Terrified, the boy escapes once again.

He later crosses paths with Lekh, a kind-hearted bird breeder who treats him with care. However, this relative peace is shattered when Lekh is involved with a wild woman, leading to her tragic fate at the hands of the angry local women who brutalize her for perceived disloyalty. Overcome by grief and despair, Lekh ultimately takes his own life, prompting the boy to leave yet again.

In search of solace, the boy discovers a tame horse with a broken leg and brings it to the next village, only to witness its brutal murder by a villager. His identity as a Jew exposes him to danger when partisans ask the locals to deliver him to the Germans. However, a German soldier assigned to execute him surprisingly lets him go. Yet, later, he falls into the hands of SS guards who take him to a nearby town. His life is spared once more through the intervention of a priest who offers him shelter, only to later arrange for him to stay with Garbos, a man whose darker inclinations lead to horrific consequences for both of them.

Once Garbos meets his grisly end, the boy is again left to fend for himself. Taken in by Labina, a woman who coerces the boy into performing sexual acts under the threat of violence, he eventually retaliates by killing her goat and fleeing her clutches.

Subsequently, the boy encounters the Red Army, specifically a sniper named Mitka. Mitka, however, is not without his own darkness, forcing the boy to witness the brutal reality of war as he avenges attacks on his comrades. As the Russian troops withdraw, they send the boy to an orphanage, a place where he feels isolated and attempts to escape repeatedly. After enduring a beating from an anti-Semitic shopkeeper, he exacts revenge and kills him.

Just when it seems he might find some semblance of family, a man named Nikodém arrives at the orphanage, tearfully claiming him as his son. However, the boy’s trauma leaves him mute and unresponsive to Nikodém’s attempts to explain his past. While traveling by bus towards the prospect of a new home, the boy catches a glimpse of a number tattooed on his father’s arm. With a flick of his finger, he writes his name, Joska, on the bus window, marking an indelible moment in his harrowing journey through pain and survival.