'White Bird' stars Helen Mirren as a Holocaust survivor who teaches her grandson about kindness

By Shira Li Bartov

(JTA) - In "White Bird," a long-anticipated film about a Jewish girl who is rescued by her classmate in Nazi-occupied France, the Holocaust is fertile ground for teaching children how to be good.

The movie is a spinoff of "Wonder" (2017), a modern-day story about a middle schooler seeking to fit in despite his facial differences. "White Bird" opens with that boy's bully, Julian (Bryce Gheisar), but the real hero is his grandmother Sara (played in the present day by Helen Mirren and as a child by Ariella Glaser) - who, recognizing that her grandson needs moral guidance, share...