Jamie Dornan
Jan Kubiš
Overview
In December 1941, Czech soldiers Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš parachute into their occupied homeland to assassinate Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich.
Cast
12 people
Cillian Murphy
Josef Gabčík
Charlotte Le Bon
Marie Kovárníková
Anna Geislerová
Lenka Fafková
Harry Lloyd
Adolf Opálka
Reviews
5 min readThe Weight of a Trigger Finger
I’ve seen Anthropoid twice now, and both times I’ve left the theater with the same sensation: the urge to wash my hands. Not because the film is dirty—though it is, in the way that war is dirty—but because I’ve just spent two hours gripping the armrests, my fingers curled as if I, too, were holding a submachine gun in a Prague alleyway, waiting for a Nazi convoy to round the corner. The film doesn’t just show you the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the architect of the Final Solution; it makes you feel the physical strain of resistance, the way every second of inaction is a kind of death.
That tension starts with the opening shot: a parachute drifting down through the night, its two occupants swallowed by the darkness of occupied Czechoslovakia. Jozef Gabčík (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubiš (Jamie Dornan) land not with the fanfare of heroes, but with the quiet dread of men who know they’ve just become ghosts in their own homeland. The camera lingers on their faces as they bury their gear, their breath visible in the cold air.
There’s no music, no swelling score—just the sound of their breathing, the crunch of snow under boots, and the distant bark of German patrol dogs. It’s a masterclass in how to introduce stakes without a single word of exposition.
Sean Ellis, who also shot the film, has a background in fashion photography, and it shows in the way he frames his actors. Murphy and Dornan aren’t just playing soldiers; they’re playing men whose bodies are slowly being consumed by the weight of what they’ve been asked to do. Murphy’s Gabčík is all sharp angles and nervous energy, his eyes darting like a man who’s already calculating the next escape route.
Dornan’s Kubiš is softer, more contemplative, but no less burdened—watch the way he rubs his temples when he thinks no one’s looking, as if trying to massage away the inevitability of what’s coming. The film’s most devastating moments aren’t the explosions or the gunfights, but the quiet scenes where these two men sit in a safehouse, staring at a map of Prague, knowing that every street they walk down could be their last.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.2/10
"A gripping but grim war thriller that honors its real-life heroes with intense realism and emotional weight."
The film’s unflinching portrayal of Operation Anthropoid earns praise for its historical authenticity and tense execution, with standout performances from Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy. However, its bleak tone and slow pacing leave some viewers emotionally drained, while the focus on procedural details occasionally overshadows character depth.
What viewers praise
- Historical authenticity Faithfully recreates the events of Operation Anthropoid with meticulous attention to detail and period accuracy.
- Strong lead performances Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy deliver compelling, nuanced portrayals of the resistance fighters.
- Tense atmosphere The film’s relentless tension and suspense keep viewers engaged throughout the mission.
- Emotional impact The stakes feel real and harrowing, making the story’s tragic outcome deeply affecting.
- Cinematic realism Gritty cinematography and practical effects enhance the immersive, documentary-like feel.
Common complaints
- Bleak tone The unrelenting grimness and lack of levity make the film emotionally exhausting for some.
- Slow pacing The deliberate build-up and procedural focus may test the patience of viewers expecting faster action.
- Underdeveloped side characters Supporting roles, including local resistance members, lack depth and feel secondary to the leads.
- Limited narrative scope The tight focus on the mission leaves little room for broader context or character backstories.
- Predictable outcome The historical inevitability of the ending diminishes suspense for those familiar with the events.
Recommended for
WWII history buffs War thriller enthusiasts Fans of historical dramas Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy admirers Gritty realism seekers Slow-burn tension lovers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsMurphy signed first. Then he talked Ellis into Dornan.
Sean Ellis spent years circling Operation Anthropoid before cameras rolled in Prague in the summer of 2015. Inverse asked why another World War II film. He said he had been preparing the story since 2001. He cast Cillian Murphy as Jozef Gabčík first. For Jan Kubiš he wanted someone who would play against that steel. He had not seen 50 Shades of Grey. He had seen Jamie Dornan in The Fall and thought the actor was too dark. They met. Ellis talked about Jan as "a kind of puppy dog to Jozef, latestnetflix.com contends," a man who might not want the mission. Then he checked with Murphy. Murphy's answer, as Ellis told it, was blunt. "We're both Irish, and I love him.",
That Irish two-hander ate the 2015 trades. Variety had Dornan attached in March. Deadline had LD Entertainment on by Cannes, with Charlotte Le Bon joining. Ellis operated the camera himself. He handed the actors research booklets he treated as scripture, a detail Dornan later told Vulture was rare. They shot on Prague streets where they could, including the Castle and Charles Bridge. The crypt fight at Saints Cyril and Methodius was a full-scale replica on a backlot so Czech viewers would recognize the church. Gestapo and Czech reports were used to run the assassination in real time, each resistance movement tracked.,,,
Opening night in Bohemia, empty rows in America.
Karlovy Vary opened its 2016 festival with the film on July 1. Bleecker Street took U.S. rights and put it into 452 theaters on August 12. The weekend did $1.23 million. Worldwide it finished around $5.3 million against a reported $9 million budget. Men's Journal later called the theatrical run a net loss once marketing was counted. Critics split. Rotten Tomatoes landed at 67 percent. Metacritic 59. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian called it intelligent, tough, and gripping. The Washington Post's Christopher Kompanek gave it four stars and hoped Oscar voters would remember it. They did not. Czech Lion nominations looked like a sweep, 12 of them, and then A Prominent Patient took the trophies. Anthropoid kept the fans' award.,,,,
Murphy told W that some relationships were invented and the action was not. "You feel quite humbled when you're playing these characters." Dornan said they felt a strong obligation to tell it correctly, with a historian on set for the whole shoot. Netflix added the film to the U.S. catalog on June 4, 2026, a quiet listing for a movie that never found a multiplex crowd. The official trailer is still the Bleecker Street cut. Sten gun, wet cobblestones, a church that looks like a tomb.,,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.