''Colonia'' (released in the UK as ''The Colony'') is a 2015

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by Florian Gallenberger, produced by

Benjamin Herrmann Benjamin Herrmann (born July 17, 1971) is a German film producer and distributor. Career Benjamin Herrmann studied Directing at the Munich Academy for Film and Television. After graduating with his award-winning short film '' Der große Lacher ( ...

, written by Torsten Wenzel and Gallenberger, and starring

Emma Watson Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, includi ...

Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts B ...

, and Michael Nyqvist. The film is set against the backdrop of the 1973 Chilean military coup and the real "Colonia Dignidad", a notorious cult in the South of Chile, led by German lay preacher

Paul Schäfer Paul Schäfer Schneider (4 December 1921 – 24 April 2010) was a Nazi, child rapist, German-Chilean Christian minister and the founder and leader of a sect and agricultural commune of 300 German immigrants called Colonia Dignidad (''Dignity ...

. ''Colonia'' is an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...

of companies in the UK, Germany, Luxembourg, and France.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...

began on 2 October 2014 in Luxembourg; filming also took place in Germany and Argentina. ''Colonia'' held its world premiere at the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's '' Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Na ...

in the Special Presentations section. The film was released in Germany on 18 February 2016, in the United Kingdom on 1 July 2016, and in France on 20 July 2016.

Plot

In 1973, Lena is a strong, independent and adventurous

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding ...

stewardess and is in relationship with Daniel, a West German journalist and activist living in Chile. Upon arrival in Santiago, she reunites with him and they spend their days in the capital peacefully. One day, the two become entangled in a Chilean military coup at a time when supporters of deposed President

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

are getting rounded up by the military under General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

. When Daniel is abducted by Pinochet's secret police

DINA Dina ( ar, دينا, he, דִּינָה, also spelled Dinah, Dena, Deena) is a female given name. Women * Dina bint Abdul-Hamid (1929–2019), Queen consort of Jordan, first wife of King Hussein * Princess Dina Mired of Jordan (born 1965), Princ ...

, Lena tries to find and save him. The pursuit leads her to "Colonia Dignidad", an isolated secret organization living in a sealed-off rural farmland and enclave near the

Andes mountains The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. The organization presents itself as a charitable mission run by

, a former ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

'' colonel and army medic who evaded capture and trial following World War II by disguising himself as a Lutheran pastor and lay minister, later fleeing to Chile to build the organization. Lena joins the organization to rescue Daniel, only to learn it is a cult that combines Baptist-style tenets, punitive agrarian lifestyles, Nazism, and aggressive

anti-Communism Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

, from which no one has ever escaped. She witnesses Doro, a fellow member, get brutally beaten and humiliated at the men's section after it is revealed that she wanted to get married to another cult member. Lena skinny dips in a nearby pond in order to brought over to the men's section for the same punishments so that she can find Daniel. After a power outage, she later finds him; he has acted mentally disabled so he would be overlooked. When they reunite, the couple discover the organization is also an illegal operations center for DINA, who also use it as a political prison, trafficking ring, and torture venue for dissidents of Pinochet. With the help of a pregnant nurse named Ursel, Lena and Daniel attempt to escape from Colonia Dignidad. During the escape, they are discovered and Ursel is killed but Lena and Daniel escape to the West German embassy. Staff from the embassy betray them but they exit the country by air, with incriminating photographic evidence against Colonia Dignidad.

Cast

as Lena, a young flight attendant working for the German airline Lufthansa who joins the cult Colonia Dignidad to rescue her boyfriend Daniel. *

as Daniel, Lena's boyfriend, a West German activist working in Chile as a journalist who is kidnapped by General

's secret police

. * Michael Nyqvist as

, the leader of Colonia Dignidad. * Richenda Carey as Gisela *

Vicky Krieps Vicky Krieps (born 4 October 1983) is a Luxembourgish-German actress. She has appeared in a number of American, Luxembourgish, French and German productions. Krieps' breakthrough role was in Paul Thomas Anderson's Academy Award-winning film ''Pha ...

as Ursel * Jeanne Werner as Doro * César Bordón as

Manuel Contreras Juan Manuel "Mamo" Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda (4 May 1929 – 7 August 2015) was a Chilean Army officer and the former head of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional, National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the ...

* Marcelo Vilaro as

August Zirner August Zirner (born 7 January 1956) is an American-Austrian actor, who starred in over 60 film productions. He is one of the most popular actors in Germany. Biography Zirner was born as son of Austrian Jewish immigrants in the United States in ...

as German Ambassador *

Martin Wuttke Martin Wuttke (born 8 February 1962) is a German actor and director who achieved international recognition for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the 2009 film ''Inglourious Basterds''. Life and career Wuttke began his actor training at the colleg ...

as Niels Biedermann *

Julian Ovenden Julian Mark Ovenden (born 29 November 1976) is an English actor and singer. He has starred on Broadway and West End stages, in television series in both the United Kingdom and United States, in films, and performed internationally as a concert ...

as Roman Breuer * Nicolás Barsoff as Jorge

Production

On 29 September 2014, it was announced that

and

would star as a couple in the upcoming film which is based on a real historical background, directed by Florian Gallenberger who co-wrote the script with Torsten Wenzel.

would be producing the film through Majestic Filmproduktion, and Nicolas Steil would co-produce through Iris Productions. Kolja Brandt would be director of photography, and Hansjörg Weißbrich would be the film editor. On 27 October, Michael Nyqvist joined the film to star as

began on 2 October 2014 in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, where it was shot in Haut Martelange near to

Rambrouch Rambrouch ( lb, Rammerech or (locally) ; german: Rambruch) is a commune and small town in western Luxembourg, in the canton of Redange. It lies close to the border with Belgium. Rambrouch was formed on 1 January 1979 from the former communes of ...

on the Luxembourg-Belgium border. Filming in Luxembourg lasted through the end of October, and then the production moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

for further shooting in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. It was also shot in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

until early 2015.

Release

''Colonia'' premiered at the

on 13 September 2015. Shortly after,

Screen Media Films Screen Media Ventures, LLC. is an American-Canadian distribution company founded in 2001. In 2008, Screen Media selected The Creative Coalition as its exclusive nonprofit partner in launching the Spotlight Initiative. The partnership permits the p ...

acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. The film also screened at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

on 12 February 2016. The film was released in Germany on 18 February 2016 by Majestic Filmverleih, in the United Kingdom on 1 July 2016 by Signature Entertainment. and in France on 20 July 2016 by Rezo Films. The film was released to a limited run in the United States and Canada on 15 April 2016.

Reception

Box office

''Colonia'' grossed $15,709 in the United States and Canada and $3.6 million in other countries, giving a worldwide total of $3.62 million. In Germany, ''Colonia'' grossed $608,337 in its opening weekend. After seven weeks, the film grossed a total of $1.9 million. In the United Kingdom, the film was released in three cinemas nationwide, as part of a distribution deal geared towards

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

. The film grossed just $61 (£47) in its opening weekend.

Critical response

On review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has a rating of 26% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 4.23/10.

Accolades

''Colonia'' received 5 nominations from the

German Film Awards German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, including Best Supporting Actor. {, class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 99%;" , - ! scope="col", Year ! scope="col", Award ! scope="col", Category ! scope="col", Recipients ! scope="col", Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable", , - , rowspan="9", 2016 ,

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...

, Best Production , , , style="text-align:center;", , - , rowspan="5",

, Best Editing , Hansjörg Weißbrich , , rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;", , - , Best Production Design , Bernd Lepel , , - , Best Costume Design , Nicole Fischnaller , , - , Best Sound , , , - , Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role , Michael Nyqvist , , - ,

Golden Trailer Awards The Golden Trailer Awards are an American annual award show for film trailers founded in 1999. The awards also honor the best work in all areas of film and video game marketing, including posters, television advertisements and other media, in ...

, Best Foreign Thriller Trailer , , , style="text-align:center;", , - , rowspan="2",

Women Film Critics Circle Awards The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) is a film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in ...

, Adrienne Shelly Award , ''Colonia'' , , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", , - , Best Female Action Hero ,

, , - , 2017 , Jupiter Awards , Best International Actress , Emma Watson , , style="text-align:center;", , -

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonia 2015 films Anti-Chilean sentiment English-language German films English-language Luxembourgian films English-language French films 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s historical films 2010s romantic thriller films 2015 romantic drama films German romantic drama films German thriller drama films German historical films German romantic thriller films Luxembourgian drama films French romantic drama films French historical films French romantic thriller films French political films French thriller drama films Films about the Chilean military dictatorship Films set in 1973 Films set in Chile Films shot in Argentina Films shot in Bavaria Films shot in Berlin Films shot in Buenos Aires Films shot in Luxembourg 2010s political thriller films 2015 thriller drama films 2010s historical romance films Films scored by Fernando Velázquez German historical romance films American romantic drama films Colonia Dignidad Films about Nazi fugitives in South America Films about coups d'état Films about cults 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s French films 2010s German films