The German Doctor is an understated, fictional movie that has a predatory undercurrent which never fully culminates in an act of terror-probably because the worst has already happened, but rather leaves one with a residual sense of dread and contamination. The German Doctor asks what if the seemingly nice stranger who seems like a fairy godfather and wants to offer you and your family everything that you want was actually a complete monster. The German Doctor shows rather than tells: the mother’s and the school’s photographs hint at propaganda-filled childhoods; the father’s dolls go from unique works of handcrafted art to factory-created perfect blond dolls made with real hair; the bullying suggests a historical heritage towards the destruction of anything other than the Aryan ideal; and the doctor’s notebook reveals the seemingly scientific agenda hidden in his friendly overtures. The father is suspicious as if there was a pedophile in their midst, but everyone else seems to know more about the titular character and accord him with more respect than what is normally due to the neighborhood veterinarian. The atmosphere is like a historical as opposed to a sci-fi The Stepford Wives as the unique flawed individual is willingly and voluntarily tortured to become an unrealistic physical specimen. The entire community seems to be a haven for these unrepentant, seemingly docile civilized losers of history who only briefly reveal their violent tendencies. Nothing permanently bad happens on screen, but there is a suggestion that a bullet was just dodged as the family and the little girls’s self esteem becomes more fractured with increased exposure to the titular character. The German Doctor provides no clearcut answers for the audience. We don’t know what the titular character really wanted to do with this family other than continue his previous experiments, which are obviously sinister and biased, but he seems to like the family and want the best for them. Still he can’t be trusted, and his last scene with the little girl betrays his real character. The German Doctor is an Argentinian film that struggles with its historical heritage-clear evil displaced can appear to not only be benign but positive in a new context, however it does not change its fundamentally flawed origins and ultimately causes a psychological if not physical harm. If you’re looking for a 70s style thriller like The House on Garibaldi Street, skip it. If you will be frustrated because there are no clear cut answers, then skip it. If you’re looking for a psychological drama without any sensational moments that struggles with what it is like to live in a world where you are taught that the villain is the hero, then watch The German Doctor.