Orphan

Budapest, 1957: The Hungarian Uprising of the previous year has been brutally crushed by the Soviets, but 12-year-old Jewish boy Andor hasn’t noticed much of it. This angry and withdrawn teenager is growing up with his mother, Klára. His father disappeared somewhere during World War II; perhaps he is still alive, perhaps he was murdered by the Nazis. Either way, Andor reveres him; in his eyes, he is a hero. One day, Berend shows up at the door, a rough-and-tumble guy who is said to have saved Klára’s life during the war. He claims to be his father, something Andor refuses to believe. The situation spirals completely out of control.

Just as the Hungarians stood alone against Soviet superiority in 1956, Andor stands alone in his resistance against the man he cannot and will not recognize as his father. Director László Nemes wrote the screenplay together with his regular co-writer Clara Royer, with whom he also made Son of Saul and Sunset.