You’ve probably seen your fair share of World War II movies. Usually, they follow a predictable rhythm: the good guys huddle in a dark room, plan a daring raid, and then the music swells as they execute the mission. But the man with the iron heart movie (originally titled HHhH) is a different beast entirely. It’s a film that tries to do two things at once, and honestly, that’s exactly why people are still arguing about it years after its 2017 release.
It isn't just a "war movie." It’s a split-screen look at the anatomy of a monster and the desperation of the men sent to kill him.
What is the man with the iron heart movie actually about?
If you're looking for a simple action flick, this might throw you for a loop. The first hour is basically a biopic of Reinhard Heydrich. He wasn't just any Nazi; he was the guy Hitler himself called "the man with the iron heart." Played by Jason Clarke with a sort of terrifying, blank-eyed stillness, the film tracks his rise from a disgraced naval officer to the architect of the Final Solution.
Then, right in the middle, the perspective shifts.
Suddenly, we’re following Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík, two paratroopers sent by the Czech government-in-exile to Prague. Their mission? Operation Anthropoid. Their goal? Assassinate Heydrich. It’s a jarring transition, but it mirrors the structure of the book the film is based on—Laurent Binet’s HHhH.
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Why the title change matters
You might find the film listed as HHhH in some regions. That weird acronym stands for Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich, which translates to "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." It was a real joke told in Berlin back then. But let’s be real, "The Man with the Iron Heart" is way more clickable for a global audience. It points directly to the central paradox of the film: how a man with a "human" family life could be so fundamentally devoid of empathy.
The Jason Clarke and Rosamund Pike dynamic
Rosamund Pike plays Lina Heydrich, and she is arguably more chilling than her husband. The movie suggests she was the one who actually pushed him toward Nazi ideology after he was kicked out of the Navy for a "conduct unbecoming" scandal involving a woman.
There’s a scene where they’re at a party, and you see the precise moment the power shifts. Pike plays Lina as a true believer, someone who saw the Nazi party as a vehicle for her husband’s—and by extension, her own—ambition. It’s uncomfortable to watch. It’s meant to be.
How it stacks up against "Anthropoid" (2016)
Wait, didn't Cillian Murphy do this already?
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Yes. Anthropoid came out just a year earlier. It’s impossible to talk about the man with the iron heart movie without comparing the two. Anthropoid is a claustrophobic, gritty thriller that stays entirely with the assassins. You feel their sweat and their fear.
Cédric Jimenez, the director of Iron Heart, took a wider lens. He wanted to show the "why" behind the assassination. By spending so much time with Heydrich, the film makes the stakes of the mission feel more global, even if it loses some of the personal tension found in the 2016 version. Some critics hated this. They felt it gave a monster too much screen time. Others argued you can't understand the resistance without seeing what they were actually fighting against.
Historical accuracy vs. cinematic flair
Movies always tweak things. It’s what they do. In the film, the assassination attempt on the curve in Prague is handled with incredible technical skill. It’s loud, messy, and chaotic—just like it was in real life when Gabčík's Sten gun jammed.
However, some historians have pointed out that the movie’s portrayal of the "Salon Kitty" spy brothel and some of the internal Nazi politics are a bit glossed over. The film also takes some liberties with the final stand at the St. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.
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- The real death: Heydrich didn't die instantly. He lingered for several days in the hospital, eventually dying of sepsis caused by horsehair and upholstery fragments from the car seat being blown into his body.
- The retaliation: The movie shows the destruction of the village of Lidice. This isn't "Hollywood drama"—the Nazis actually razed the village to the ground and murdered the inhabitants as a direct "lesson" for the assassination.
- The Church scene: The shootout in the crypt is arguably the film's strongest moment. It’s a brutal, 20-minute sequence that captures the sheer hopelessness of the paratroopers' position once they were betrayed by Karel Čurda.
Is it worth the watch?
Kinda depends on what you want. If you want a deep character study of how someone becomes a high-ranking Nazi, the first half is fascinating. If you want a high-stakes resistance thriller, the second half delivers.
The main criticism is that the two halves don't always feel like they belong to the same movie. It’s like watching a biopic that suddenly turns into Saving Private Ryan. But Jason Clarke’s performance is genuinely haunting. He doesn't play Heydrich as a mustache-twirling villain; he plays him as a bureaucrat who just happens to be a mass murderer. That’s much scarier.
Actionable insights for history buffs
If you’ve watched the man with the iron heart movie and want to dive deeper into the real story, here is how to get the full picture without the Hollywood filter:
- Read the book HHhH by Laurent Binet. It’s not a standard novel. The author actually interrupts the story to talk about how hard it is to write historical fiction without lying. It’s brilliant.
- Visit the National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror. If you’re ever in Prague, go to the actual cathedral. You can still see the bullet holes in the exterior walls where the SS tried to shoot into the crypt.
- Watch "Conspiracy" (2001). If you want to see the "Iron Heart" in his element, this HBO movie depicts the Wannsee Conference. Kenneth Branagh plays Heydrich, and it’s a perfect companion piece to Jimenez's film.
- Research the "Silver A" and "Silver B" missions. Operation Anthropoid wasn't the only jump into occupied territory. Learning about the wider Czech resistance makes the sacrifice of Kubiš and Gabčík feel even more significant.
Basically, the film serves as a doorway. It’s a stylish, often brutal look at a turning point in the war. It might not be "perfect" cinema—the pacing is definitely weird—but it handles the weight of the history with a lot more respect than your average summer blockbuster.
Watch it for the performances, but keep a Wikipedia tab open. You're going to want to know what happened next.
Next Steps for You: Check out the 2016 film Anthropoid to see the same story told from a completely different perspective, or look up the real-life biography of Jan Kubiš to see the letters he wrote before his final mission.