The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler: A Chat Over Fika

Ok, first things first, have you seen “The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler”? If not, you might want to! I mean, Anna Paquin is in it, for Pete’s sake! Most folks know her from “True Blood”, but here, she’s playing Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker who saved around 2,500 Jewish kids from the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.

Directed by John Kent Harrison, the film kinda hits differently. Sure, it’s no blockbuster like “Avengers”, but its heart? Massive. Like, the size of a Volvo.

Now, speaking of Volvos and things close to home, watching this film got me thinking about my mormor’s stories from the war. We used to sit in her little kitchen in Malmö, sipping on too-strong coffee and munching on kanelbullar. It never felt real, her tales of people risking everything, until this movie. It brought a lot of those conversations with mormor back to life for me. Kind of unsettling but also comforting, you know?

The cast is top-notch. We have the ever-amazing Marcia Gay Harden playing Irena’s mother. She captures that stern warmth many of us recognize in our own family elders. The cinematography? A bit gloomy at times, but hey, it’s a WWII film, not “Mamma Mia!”.

To be honest, the pacing felt a bit slow here and there. I’m still iffy about some corners they cut in storytelling—details that might’ve made the heroism even more palpable. But, let’s be real, no film is perfect.

Feels like a film you might wanna watch on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Maybe with a warm cup of lingonberry tea. Just saying.

So, if you’re into stories that remind you of the importance of human decency—if that’s even a thing anymore—this one’s worth a shot.

Check the trailer below