In a wartime nation where everything is rationed, the women are initially delighted, until they hear that the food they just ate will be served to Adolf Hitler. And they are used as proof tasters to see if the ingredients have been poisoned...
Still, they all receive a salary, are allowed to go home, and after the first shock has subsided, they are fairly content with the situation. Friendships form among the women and even with their guards. But when the war takes a few bad turns for Germany, the regime starts to show just how brutal it can be, and the women are treated as totally dispensable, sometimes being force-fed at gunpoint. Also, Hitler's Eastern headquarters may not be the best place to be in, with the Russian army advancing fast...
While Wölk's account and Postorino's novel certainly would allow for an over-the-top sentimental treatment, what with several dramas unfolding simultaneously, the film thankfully keeps things mostly understated and rooted in realism. Histrionics are avoided and any heroism is kept staunchly in the grey areas. It makes the characters, female and male, believable, which helps with keeping the story interesting. Elisa Schlott keeps Rosa someone to root for, even though you often do not agree with her, while Max Riemelt adds surprising depth and humanity in a character you NEVER agree with.
That's a good thing too because you stay with these women and their keepers for over two hours, but that never feels indulgent. There are millions of stories from world war two, from each side of the war, but this one still manages to be special. Audiences in Vlissingen thought so too, awarding the film a 4.45 out of 5, and voting it into the festival's top 20.