Overview User Rating: 7.8/10 (16,444 votes) Director: Mark Herman Writers: John Boyne (novel) Mark Herman (screenplay) Release Date: 12 September 2008 (UK) Genre: Drama | Thriller | War Tagline: A timeless story of innocence lost and humanity found. Plot: Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.