As trendy as it is for filmmakers to take an alternate look at a story by portraying it through the eyes of the villains, you don’t see too many awarding that sympathetic angle to the Nazis.

There’s a good reason for that. When it comes to the Nazis, it’s hard to find much to be sympathetic about. Bring an eight-year-old in as the centerpiece of your story, and all that changes.

Bruno (Asa Butterfield, Son of Rambow) is a carefree child who loves to roam the streets of Berlin with his friends. He knows his father (David Thewlis, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) is a Nazi commanding officer, but is oblivious to what that means. All he’s told is he should be proud of his father’s accomplishments. A new military assignment sends the family to the countryside where Bruno despairs of having any friends. His mother (Vera Farmiga, The Departed) confines him mostly to the house and the front driveway.

Bruno notices some odd things about this new home, like a farm several miles away where all the workers wear pajamas, and several tall smokestacks that belch out an unbearable smell. It’s obvious what’s going on here, and it soon becomes apparent that Bruno’s father is the one in charge of the nearby concentration camp. Bruno’s parents make every effort to dampen his curiosity about the “farm,” but Bruno is undeterred, and sneaks away to get a closer look.

What he finds is a tall, barbed-wire fence, and behind it is a boy his age with a funny name and funny clothes. “What kind of name is Shmuel?” and “Why are you wearing pajamas?” Bruno wonders.

Shmuel (newcomer Jack Scanlon) worries about being caught hiding in the corner of the camp where he escapes from his work and is wary of Bruno at first, but the two soon develop a friendship, despite being separated by a fence. Bruno travels to the camp as often as he can, bringing food to Shmuel, who gobbles it down hastily. Bruno thinks that’s funny. He’s still oblivious.