Based on Rhidian Brook’s novel by the same name, the action takes place in post-war Germany, circa 1945. The Allies have won the war, and the country has been parcelled out, with France, the Soviet Union and Britain each occupying certain zones. When Rachael Morgan (Knightley) arrives in Hamburg to join her husband, Lewis (Jason Clarke), it’s with a sense of martyrdom. Having lost a son during the London Blitz, she has born the brunt of suffering as a victim of German aggression. And yet, it soon becomes clear that things aren’t so simple. Hamburg is a hollowed out shell after a firestorm set off by Allied bombs destroyed a large part of the city, and its residents are being forced to give up what’s left of their homes to make room for British officers and their families. They’ve suffered too. The question here is: do they deserve it?