The Optimist (2026)

Herbert Heller keeps his experience as a teenage boy surviving in Auschwitz hidden from his family. Until he meets Abby, a young teenager whose own brush with pain and death inspires him to open up as well, leading the two of them to exchange their stories as a meaningful and healing friendship is born.

Cast (13)CrewGenresDetailsReleasesMediaAwards

Stephen Lang

Herbert Heller

Elsie Fisher

Abbey

Luke David Blumm

Young Herbert Heller

Robin Weigert

Ruth

Leah Pipes

Jane

Ben Geurens

Gabe

Ursula Parker

Sabrina

Slavko Sobin

Herbert's Father

Stella Stocker

Herbert's Mother

Oskar Hes

Hein Heller

Stephanie Heiner

Linda

Josh Schell

Cop

Jake Lucas

Centurion (uncredited)

If you liked The Optimist, you might also like…

90% match

All Together Now

2020

89% match

Remember

2015

82% match

Home Run

2013

77% match

The House on Carroll Street

1988

77% match

No One Would Tell

1996

75% match

Gigi & Nate

2022

68% match

The Browning Version

1994

67% match

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

1972

60% match

The Girl in the Book

2015

62% match

Tyson's Run

2022

60% match

Adopt a Highway

2019

60% match

Conversations with God

2006

60% match

The Parts You Lose

2019

60% match

The Boy in the Woods

2023

60% match

Wonderstruck

2017

60% match

The Zone of Interest

2023

60% match

What Maisie Knew

2013

60% match

Ice Castles

2010

60% match

Resurrecting the Champ

2007

60% match

The Good Lie

2014