Escape from Germany

Escape from Germany is a 2024 American historical drama film written and directed by T. C. Christensen, based on the book "Mine Angels Round About" by Terry Bohle Montauge.

Escape from Germany
Promotional poster
Directed by	T. C. Christensen
Written by	T. C. Christensen
Based on	Mine Angels Round About by Terry Bohle Montague (2000)
Produced by	T. C. Christensen Eric S. Johnston
Starring	Paul Wuthrich David McConnell
Production company	Remember Films
Distributed by	Susan Tuckett Media
Release date	April 11, 2024 (2024-04-11) (United States)
Running time	97 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Languages	English German
Budget	under $1 million[2]
Box office	$2,610,405[3][4]

Escape from Germany was released in select theaters across the United States on 11 April 2024.^[3]

Premise

In August 1939, 79 American missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints get stranded inside Nazi Germany on the eve of outbreak of WWII and must escape to neighboring countries while Hitler's army is closing German borders.

Cast

• Paul Wuthrich as Elder Norman Seibold (1915-2003) who was tasked with locating the scattered missionaries and evacuating them from Germany
• David McConnell as (West German Mission) President M. Douglas Wood
• Whitney Palmer as Evelyn Wood, mission president's wife
• Scarlett Hazen as Carol Wood, daughter
• Sebastian Barr as Elder Anderson, missionary
• Landon Henneman as Elder Barnes, missionary
• Deveney Reber as Sister Erma Rosenhan, missionary
• Kevin Kirschenmann as President Biehl
• Henning Fischer as Gestapo officer

Production

According to the film's closing credits and as stated in the magazine LDS Living, most of the extras in Escape from Germany were actual descendants of the real-life escaping missionaries.^[2]

With the film's budget being under $1 million, some of the funding needed for its making came from a private investor in Dallas who was also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[2]

Principal photography took place in Utah and Budapest.^[2]

Release

The film was released in select cinemas in the United States on 11 April 2024 by Susan Tuckett Media.^[3]

Reception

Box office

Escape from Germany grossed $168,100 during its opening weekend in the United States.^[3] As of 4 September 2024^[update], it made the total of $2.6 million.^[4]

Critical response

Christie Cronan wrote in her positive review for Common Sense Media: "While Escape from Germany could easily be labeled as propaganda for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with its heavy-handed faith-based dialogue and missionary characters, it's also a WWII film without brutal war violence."^[5]

Sean P. Means of The Movie Cricket criticised the film: "Christensen's habit of turning every plot turn into a Sunday school lesson is on display here — with every twist of fate or fortunate coincidence taken as a sign of God's hand. Miracles are good for sermons, but they make for unsubtle screenwriting."^[6]