It’s never a bad time for stories celebrating acts of kindness, but the current news cycle makes it ever so more appreciated. In the new film White Bird, in theaters Friday, the act is quite significant: A family in Nazi-occupied France shelters a young Jewish girl, whose friends and family have all been taken away.
From German director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner) White Bird is a handsome adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s graphic novel aimed at young adults. This, too, is perfectly suited to that audience — a story within a story with all the drama of war and young romance wrapped up in it. Let’s just not overplay the idea that it’s part of some shared cinematic kindness universe with the Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson film Wonder, also based on Palacio’s work.