Naomi Watts Unmasks a Nazi Past in TIFF's The Housewife
At TIFF, Ben Shirinian's The Housewife unfolds a tense, psychologically driven portrait of Hermine Braunsteiner, a Queens housewife who concealed her Nazi past as a camp guard. NY Times journalist Joseph Lelyveld (Tye Sheridan) and immigration officer Anthony DeVito (Michael Imperioli) uncover the truth, provoking deportation hearings and a moral showdown. Naomi Watts delivers a chilling, dual performance as Hermine; Lena Olin is riveting as eyewitness Rachel Berger, and the film's restrained approach—avoiding camp-flashbacks—magnifies the private horror of a public secret, a timely reminder amid renewed antisemitism.