A new TV show about Anne Frank has a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The limited National Geographic Disney+ series follows the devastating well-known story of German-born Jewish girl Anne Frank, who kept a diary that documented her everyday life hiding with her family in an attic in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Dutch couple Miep and Jan Gies assisted in hiding the Franks for over two years.
However, in August 1944, Frank and her family were arrested by the Gestapo and transported to concentration camps. Sadly, in early 1945, Frank and her sister, Margot, died. Frank was just 15 at the time, per the Anne Frank House website. Given that being a writer was Frank's greatest wish, her diary was published posthumously in 1947 by her father Otto, who was the only member of the family to survive.
Since her diary was published, it has become compulsory reading in many schools around the globe - especially in the United Kingdom and the US.
While the Frank family's experience has been well-documented - both through the diary and its numerous adaptations - there hasn't been as great a focus on the Gies' story, which is currently explored in the recent Disney+ series A Small Light.
Watch the trailer:The synopsis of the miniseries on the Disney+ site states: "Based on a true story, A Small Light follows Miep Gies, a young, carefree secretrary who hid Otto Frank and his family from the Nazis in WWII. For nearly two years, Miep and her husband Jan protected the Franks and others while she held down a day job, kept her marriage intact and shouldered more responsibility than anyone could imagine.
"While millions are familiar with Anne Frank's diary and her family's life in the Secret Annex, A Small Light is the lesser-known story of how an ordinary secretary showed extraordinary courage during one of the darkest moments in history," it continued.
Evidently, the series does a good job of portraying the Gies' story, as it has received a whopping 100% score on the Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. So far, critics have given glowing reviews of the show, with Aramide Tinubu from Variety commending actress Bel Powley on her portrayal of Miep Gies. "Powley's performance is particularly arresting. Her sharp blue gaze and determination to do what was right at a time when others looked the other way sets the series' tone from the pilot through the finale," they wrote.
The London Evening Standard's Elizabeth Gregory said: "A Small Light is devastating, without ever verging on mawkish, a rollercoaster of emotions which feels as though it may reflect how it might have felt to live in Amsterdam at the time."
Having been released on May 1 - and starring Peaky Blinders actor Joe Cole, as well as Liev Schreiber - it's clear the moving series is making waves online for all the right reasons.
