Drama. Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Amber Beattie, Jack Scanlon, Rupert Friend, David Heyman, Richard Johnson, Sheila Hancock. Director: Mark Herman.

SUFFER the little children... Based on the best-selling novel by John Boyne, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas relives the horrors of the Second World War from the perspective of an eight-year-old German boy, who is blissfully unaware of the role played by his Nazi officer father.

The subject matter is incredibly bleak and the final act of Mark Herman’s well-crafted film sets in motion a chain of events that must, inevitably, culminate in tragedy.

Bruno (Asa Butterfield) arrives home from school one day to discover that his commandant father (Thewlis) has been promoted and the entire family must move far from away from their friends.

Hungry for adventure, Bruno sneaks into the woods and stumbles upon what appears to be a farm, and a young boy in striped pyjamas called Shmuel (Scanlon).

Separated by a barbed-wire fence, the two boys become friends, until Bruno learns the truth: that Shmuel is a Jew and the farm is actually a concentration camp under the control of his father.

Herman tries to distance his characters from Nazi clichés by having the Germans speak in clipped English, which is a little distracting at first.

However, the device ultimately brings us closer — whether we like it or not — to the family.

Butterfield and Scanlon both deliver remarkably natural and unaffected performances. Herman lulls us into a false sense of security before a finale that doesn’t quite deliver a knockout emotional blow.