As one of the darkest tragedies in human history, there have been many stories told of the Holocaust over the years – from truly tragic stories like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, to some with a glimmer of hope, like Schindler’s List. A new limited series from Hulu, We Were the Lucky Ones, is inspired by the incredible true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of World War II.
Joey King (The Act) headlines this adaptation of Georgia Hunter’s novel as Halina, the youngest daughter of the Kurc family – a Jewish family living in Poland. The story begins in 1939 on the eve of Germany’s invasion of Poland, and we see the entire Kurc family together over Passover, able to revel in each other’s company while things are oh so beautifully normal. Slowly, throughout the first episode, events surrounding the family become increasingly more troubling. Halina sees a man with a beaten eye, while her brother Addy (Logan Lerman), who lives in Paris, is unable to visit Poland anymore due the Germans controlling the rail lines.
Eventually the day they had all dreaded came, with the Germans invading their town. Members of the family who hadn’t already been drafted to serve in the Polish army are given forced work assignments by the Germans, which while minor compared to what’s to come, is still a massive culture shock. Halina witnesses a German officer brutally attacking another woman, who is simply concerned about feeding her family. Her parents are content to wait the struggles out, defiant that this is their home, while she has an emotional scene where she wonders why they ignored the signs and didn’t get out sooner. By the end of the first episode, she is hatching a plan with Bella (Eva Feiler) to try and escape to Soviet-Occupied Lvov – a true case of the lesser of two evils.
Things get even more harrowing in the second episode, as Halina and Bella begin their journey to Lvov. Meanwhile, her parents are evicted as things get even more dire in Poland. Still, the common theme of this series seems to be a beacon of light, as Bella and her longtime lover Jakub (Amit Rahav) are able to get married once they reach Lvov, and Addy is able to secure a visa to Brazil from a sympathetic ambassador.
Getting to see the real comradery and chemistry that the Kurc family shares adds a little bit of light to what is otherwise a rightfully grim tale. Many prior stories showcase the tragedy and deaths that occurred during the Holocaust, and while this story naturally will delve on those subjects, it’s interesting to see the story of those that were lucky enough to survive. Still, families were still separated, and an almost impossible task took place following the war – that of finding the survivors.
I’ve seen a number of Holocaust and World War II related films and shows throughout my life, as it's a fascinating period that always leads to some excellent drama, and We Were the Lucky Ones is no exception. The cast puts in an excellent performance, especially Joey King (continuing her Hulu first-look deal with another fantastic lead role), with their work and the direction really showing off the situation of impending doom.
The first three episodes of We Were the Lucky Ones premiere on Thursday, March 28th, with new episodes following weekly on Hulu.