The German Doctor

Set in Patagonia around 1960, The German Doctor follows an Argentine family who encounter a German traveller while on the road to a lakeside town near Bariloche. Eva and Enzo are moving with their children to open a guesthouse, and they take the polite, cultured stranger in as their first lodger, unaware that he is Josef Mengele, the fugitive war criminal. The newcomer is drawn to the family's ordered, seemingly perfect life, and becomes especially attentive to their young daughter Lilith, who is small for her age. His charm, learning and money gradually win the household over, while his true identity stays hidden from them.

Lucía Puenzo directed and wrote the screenplay, working with producers Gudny Hummelvoll and Axel Kuschevatzky. The film came after her 2007 feature XXY and ahead of the features she made in the 2020s. Àlex Brendemühl plays Mengele, with Natalia Oreiro and Diego Peretti as Eva and Enzo, Florencia Bado as Lilith, and Elena Roger and Abril Braunstein in supporting roles. It was a co-production between Argentina, Spain, Norway and France, made for about two million dollars and taking roughly twice that worldwide.

On IMDb the film holds 6.7/10 from around 8,100 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.5/10 from far fewer votes. Its critics' rating of 6.6/10 from 63 reviews places it close to both audience scores, suggesting a modestly received drama rather than a divisive one.