The Reader poster

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Streaming data from JustWatch

The Reader

2008 · Movie · 124 min
B

MEANRANK

74/100

Averaged across 12 ratings · 1.2M votes

Every rating

Platform pages last read 29 September 2026. IMDb’s figure comes from IMDb’s own data file, which we re-read about once a month.

Google: Google retired the star ratings it used to show in search results, so this one no longer updates. More on where the numbers come from →

56–92 out of 100

Split

Lowest is Criticker on 56, highest is Google on 92. Critics average 60, everyone else 77.

See the films the platforms disagree about most →
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The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.

Details

Writer
David Hare
Based on
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Released
10 December 2008
Country
Germany, United States
Language
English, German, Greek, Latin
Runtime
124 min
Rated
R
Budget
$32.0M
Box office
$108.9M
Awards
8 wins, 16 nominations

This title elsewhere

Ralph Fiennes

Ralph Fiennes

Michael Berg

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet

Hanna Schmitz

David Kross

David Kross

Young Michael Berg

Lena Olin

Lena Olin

Rose Mather

Bruno Ganz

Bruno Ganz

Professor Rohl

Jeanette Hain

Jeanette Hain

Brigitte

Awards & nominations

See all 24 →

4 major awards won · 8 wins from 24 nominations across 7 ceremonies

Academy Awards 2008 Best Actress Kate Winslet Winner
BAFTA Awards 2008 Best Actress Kate Winslet Winner
Golden Globe Awards 2008 Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Kate Winslet Winner
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2008 Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Kate Winslet Winner
Academy Awards 2008 Best Picture Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella, Redmond Morris and Donna Gigliotti Nominee
Academy Awards 2008 Best Director Stephen Daldry Nominee
Academy Awards 2008 Best Adapted Screenplay David Hare Nominee
Academy Awards 2008 Best Cinematography Roger Deakins and Chris Menges Nominee
Show all 24 awards across 7 ceremonies

Awards from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.