Film Review: The Hiding Place

Maria V. Gallagher discovers a moving portrait of heroism in the film The Hiding Place.

The indomitability of the human spirit is on full display in The Hiding Place, a filmed stage play debuting in theaters August 3rd and 5th.

Based on the best-selling memoir by Corrie Ten Boom, the film tells the story of a courageous family who assists hundreds of people of the Jewish faith escape the Nazi reign of terror during World War II.

The true genius of the film lies in the fact that its lessons—of bravery, commitment, and selflessness—ring as true today as they did decades ago during the Holocaust. The Hiding Place is a timeless work destined to appeal to modern audiences hungering for truth, justice, and honor.

A.S. Peterson, who adapted the book for the stage, stated:

Theater is something that we believe can change the world. Even though The Hiding Place is set in the ‘40s, there are parallels to the challenges we still face. It’s people hating and not accepting one another and a family in the middle of that having to choose how to react. Ultimately, it makes viewers contemplate, ‘Are we going to love the people in front of us no matter who they are?’

As Corrie’s sister, Betsie, says in the production, “Our hospitality should be our protest.”

Beautifully crafted with superb acting and compelling staging, The Hiding Place brings to life characters that I had only known previously from the pages of history. In this moving work, we see the beauty of faith in action overcoming prejudice and hatred.

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Matt Logan, who directed the stage play, poignantly points out:

The Hiding Place is about a family and a community that needed one another to survive. It’s so easy to think that it was the Jews who needed the Ten Booms, but the Ten Booms were equally blessed by the Jews that took refuge. It strikes me to think the Ten Booms brought the Jews’ battle upon themselves—even though it wasn’t their own—in an act of humanity. I ask myself, ‘Would I have done the same?’

This is a production that comes at the right time in world history—a time when so many people are struggling against darkness and despair. In the Ten Booms, we find a family who went to extraordinary lengths to help their fellow man and woman, even at great risk to themselves.

For ticket information, please visit TheHidingPlaceFilm.com.

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