The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife is a 2017 American war drama film directed by Niki Caro and written by Angela Workman. It is based on Diane Ackerman's non-fiction book of the same name. The film tells the true story of how Jan and Antonina Żabiński rescued hundreds of Polish Jews from the Germans by hiding them in their Warsaw zoo during World War II. It stars Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl and Michael McElhatton. The film had its world premiere on 8 March 2017 in Warsaw, Poland, the location of the story, followed by its US premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California, on 12 March 2017. The film was released in the United States on 31 March 2017, by Focus Features, and by Universal Pictures International in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2017. It received mixed reviews from critics but a positive response from audiences and grossed $26 million worldwide. Plot Dr. Jan Żabiński is director of the Warsaw Zoo, one of the largest in 1930s Europe, assisted by his wife, Antonina. On 1 September 1939, the aerial bombardment of Warsaw and Invasion of Poland commences. Antonina and her son Ryszard barely survive. Dr. Lutz Heck, head of the Berlin Zoo and Adolf Hitler's chief zoologist and Jan's professional rival, visits the zoo while Jan is away; as Hitler's chief zoologist he's to run the Warsaw Zoo. Offering to house their prized animals in Berlin until after the war, he then returns with soldiers to shoot the others, revealing his hidden brutality. He becomes infatuated with Antonina.