The White Ribbon

The White Ribbon (2009)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149362/]

The Gist:
Small town in Germany at the brink of world war one, where strange and tragic events keep happening and there's a big mystery as to who is behind it. Except there isn't, it's the kids. Maybe the enigma of the film is why the kids are doing it? Except no, that isn't a mystery either. It's because the town is filled with a repressed air of religion and tradition, is a toxic environment, and so on. Really what keeps you enthralled with the film is to see how it's going to play out, how are things going to come to a head. It's a subtle work, and the few moments of heavy handedness were a bit of a blunt shock to me while watching. As a whole, it was mesmerizing and increasingly sinister.