by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
When I was in college, I worked for a leadership development conference in Washington D.C. It was one of the best summer jobs I’ve ever had. One of the activities we did for the students was called Cross the Line, which involved the facilitator saying a prompt, and people crossing over a line to indicate whether the prompt applied to them. The prompts would start easy, like, “I’ve flown on an airplane,” or, “I have brown eyes.” Then, the prompts would get increasingly personal and for some, uncomfortable. For instance, we would ask the students if they thought it was okay to tell a racist joke if no one found it offensive, if they believed in God, or if they’ve known someone who has abused drugs or alcohol. It was an eye-opening experience for some of the students, who may have gone way outside their normal comfort zone to be vulnerable with people they recently met.
Part of the activity also involves us watching the movie Freedom Writers, which isn’t actually all that great. But one highlight for me is when the students raise money to have Miep Gies come and speak to them about her experience hiding Anne Frank. She ended her session with the students by saying this quote: “Even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room.”
It’s a quote that has stuck with me for a long time, and some of those memories from that summer job in D.C. were brought back when I was watching A Small Light.
Props to Disney for putting this limited series together, and for having the wherewithal to put it on multiple streaming platforms. I wish they would do this more often: putting things on both Hulu and Disney+. It also makes the argument more clear about why Disney needs only one streaming service, even though Hulu complicates things with its live TV bundle. So right off the bat, hooray for corporate synergy.
A Small Light tells the story of Gies (Bel Powley), who was a secretary for Otto Frank’s (Liev Schreiber) business. When the Nazis invade Amsterdam, Otto hatches a plan to hide his family from persecution, and asks Miep for her help. Little did Miep know that she would be risking her own life to save the family she developed with the Franks.
The story of the Franks hiding in an annex in Otto’s office is something I’ve been taught since early elementary school. I’ve read The Diary of a Young Girl and have seen a version of the play. The only real knock I have on A Small Light is how it manages to remind everyone at every corner that Anne Frank (Billie Boullet) is in the series. I understand that she is the most significant of the people in the annex, but I did wish at times that there was more of a focus on some of the other people, like Anne’s sister Margot (Ashley Brooke), or her mother Edith (Amira Casar). Even the other families in the annex don’t get as much attention, even though Otto’s business partner, Hermann Van Pels (Andy Nyman), also hid his family from the Nazis.
Everything else works for me on a lot of different levels.
The performances are all outstanding. Powley ratchets her acting prowess up a level or two as Miep. She’s young and impulsive, but matures before our eyes, as she’s asked to do something incredibly noble but highly dangerous. She understands the risks, but she ultimately learns the toll that something like hiding Jewish people from the Nazis takes on her marriage, her relationship with her friends, and her personally. The focus on Miep also helps put into focus how vital her role truly is to the story. The series is also not shy about seeing how much help she receives along the way.
What was a surprise is how prominent of a figure Jan Gies (Joe Cole), Miep’s husband, is to the story. This is the first I’m truly learning of what Jan did, not only for the Franks, but for the entire resistance movement. He helped supply ration cards, connect people with those who could hide individuals nazis persecuted, and even hid a student who refused to sign a Nazi pledge at his and Miep’s home. I understand full well that this is a story about Miep, but telling Jan’s story as well is a great addition, adding more gravity to how much both of them risked to help against fascism. Cole’s performance is outstanding. I haven’t seen him in much, but I’ll watch out for him in the future.
The striking thing about A Small Light, though, is that even though I’ve heard this story a zillion times before, watching it play out still affected me. It features fantastic writing: The tension amps up each episode as we slowly get to the point where the people in the annex are discovered. I really appreciate the choice to make the story linear with minimal flashbacks. It helps get to know everyone, which in turn makes it hurt all the more when they are all caught. I’m surprised by how emotional I got during the final episodes. Kudos go to the writers and performers, without whom I wouldn’t have had the response I did while watching A Small Light.
I also have to get a special shoutout to Schreiber. Otto is a quiet man who works hard, but is in tune with a lot of what’s going on in the world. He is careful with his planning, trying to make sure that everything is accounted for. As the patriarch of his family, he also has to show resolve, while balancing being realistic with being a parent. Schreiber does this magnificently, and he often doesn’t get enough credit for what he does with his performances.
A Small Light will go down as one of the better limited series of 2023, and I think the Emmys will nominate it for their best limited series category. It won’t win a lot because The White Lotus is still out there, but it will still rack up nominations.
The effect A Small Light had on me is immense, and it just goes to show the message and theme of doing the right thing even if you’re risking a lot still matters today, considering the current world we live in. A Small Light is just what the world needs right now.
Score: 9/10
A Small Light is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu
You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Serializd