If Franz’s dissent is not consequential beyond the bounds of his own person and small family unit, why do the forces massed against him seem so concerned with his case? Why is he charged with wehrkraftzersetzung—the undermining of military morale? Why is he brought all the way to Berlin to be tried if his dissent was a minor inconvenience? Throughout A Hidden Life, the reactions to Franz’s chosen method of protest suggest something any dissident anywhere should remember about power derived from Fascistic or Nationalistic mass and their offer of security by way of a top-down identity: it is nervous, it is fragile, and it is always looking over its shoulder.
— Jeff Reichert (Reverse Shot)
Synopsis: Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.