We travel back to Paris, 1942 where the French Police are locking up Jews under the direction of their Nazi occupiers. The Starzynski family - Mom, Dad, four-year-old son Michel and 10-year-old Sarah are wrenched from their home in the infamous Vel d'Hiver roundup. Before the French police carry everyone off to the concentration camps, young Sarah successfully hides Michel by locking him a hidden closet.
Her plan for her brother has childlike simplicity: hide here now; don't say a word; I'll let you out when the bad guys are gone. But, this is occupied France and the "bad guys" aren't taking them out for a holiday in the country - the family is headed to Auschwitz. That is - everyone in the family except Michel.
Sarah's choice has consequences for everyone in the Starzynski family. As the story unfolds, you feel the panic that sets in when they realize that getting back to their apartment...their son and brother...and their way of life...may be impossible.
The family's story is uncovered by Julia Jarmond (Kristen Scott Thomas,) an American journalist married to a Frenchman who's working on a piece for Vanity Fair. As she delves deeper into the history, Julia learns that the Paris apartment her family has purchased from her husband's family - was once owned by the dispossessed Starzynski's.
In Julia's quest to learn more about the "rightful" owners of the apartment, she becomes possessed by the idea of what happened to them - who lived - who died and why. Director Paquet-Brenner does a masterful job of cutting between present day and occupied France as we follow the historical story told through young Sarah.
It's powerful stuff - made even stronger when you realize that this wasn't the mean ol' Nazis engaged in these atrocities - it was the French acting against their own people. As Julia unravels Sarah Starzynski's story you'll find yourself swept up in the narrative and hanging on every word - French AND English.
This is a gripping drama told from a fresh perspective with terrific performances, beautiful cinematography and masterful direction. When it comes to making out my 2012 Top 10 list - Sarah's Key is a lock.