Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2016 romantic war film called,
The Exception. Spoilers ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The movie begins with a girl in a white dress lying almost dead on land and grasses.
Before the angle draws nearer to the pale face, a man suddenly wakes up. Sweating in the middle
of the night, he manages to get up from the bed to get away from the nightmare he experiences.
Once he sits on the side of the bed, a woman near him bids her goodbye and it
is followed by a ring on his phone. The man states his name, “Brandt”,
the moment he grabs the telephone to answer. It is a call from General Falkenberg. Falkenberg orders
Kaiser to be the head guard of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the former Emperor of Germany who currently stays
at the mansion in Holland. Kaiser has the right to command Wilhelm’s military guard outside Utrecht.
To keep the former general alive is the primary concern of the Reich as well as to Brandt.
In Holland, the big mansion waits for the coming of Captain Brandt. The thugs of the
maids’ footsteps can be heard on the floor of the huge place, everyone is preparing. Wearing his
army suit, Brandt hops out of the car and goes to the tall white front door. The newly hired maid,
Mieke, opens the door for him. Brandt proceeds to meet Colonel Sigurd, the assistant of Kaiser.
The Colonel acknowledges his duty and instructed him that
they must not go beyond the boards of interfering with women staffs,
including the maid. In his uptight position, Brandt agrees without a doubt
and he looks forward to working with the Colonel. In the woods, Kaiser splits firewood when his
wife, Hermine, goes near him to talk about the coming of Captain Brandt.
Hermine says to her beloved husband that they should set dinner with the captain. Hermine
believes that all moves must be carefully taken in order to get his husband back to his throne again.
In the mansion, Captain Brandt’s duties are reiterated. The captain is tasked to make a
compilation of the reports about Kaiser, including his demeanor towards the Reich, his statement
about the war, and to monitor all the visitors in the mansion where the former general stays.
Brandt questions the importance of his duties and Dietrich further explains about their enemy,
the British Secret Service, who throws out a special agent around their area.
The special agent is tracked by its coded radio transmissions which they perceived as a threat to
Kaiser’s life. One more thing, Dietrich emphasizes to Brandt the importance of his duty. If the life
of Kaiser is put at stake, he will kill Brandt. In one of the rooms where maps are plastered on
the top of the table, Former General Kaiser and Captain Brandt are talking about invasion when
Mieke enters the room to deliver hot coffee. It is the second time when the captain and the newly
hired maid meet their ways. Both men delightfully welcome the presence of Mieke and laugh with
amazement when the maid agrees to invade Holland when she is asked by the former general.
Smilingly, Mieke exits the room to give the two men their private conversation.
In the evening, Mieke knocks on Brandt’s personal room to tell him about Kaiser’s dinner invitation.
After she let out the message, a moment of silence creeps between the two.
The warmth of their bodies is slowly pulling their souls together as they stare at each other’s eyes.
Brandt breaks the silence by asking the maid to take her clothes off.
Without hesitation, Mieke removes her clothes, showing her proud and firm chest
and her perfectly shaped body. Brandt stares at the beautiful body of the woman in front of him.
When he goes near her, his warm body encapsulated her and takes her in.
Both are silently whimpering by the pleasure they are sharing.
After their bodies encounter, Brandt tells Mieke he accepts the invitation and the maid
takes her clothes in before she silently goes out of her room as if nothing intimate has happened.
At their long dining table, Kaiser and Hermine welcome Brandt to join them in their dinner.
The room is dimly lit with candles on the table. The three hungry people sit on their respective
chairs while Sigurd stands on the side table and Mieke in her servant uniform walks around the
table to serve. Kaiser talks random things about Germany and Adolf Hitler while Mieke serves the
food and stands near the General. Brandt cannot focus entirely on what the former general talks
about. Instead, his attention shifts to the beautiful maid whom he possesses last night.
After dinner, Brandt tiredly enters inside his darkroom, pours a glass of water,
and sits on the chair beside the table. As he is taking off his shoes, Brandt startles when someone
switches on the light. When he looks up, Brandt sees Mieke standing a few steps from his position.
The captain asks how the maid gets in, but instead of answering his question,
Mieke asks him to take his clothes off. Warmth once again starts to ignite inside
the room when Brandt willingly takes his clothes out, showing his well-defined body.
Mieke scans the glorious structure of the man that she salivates in. When she steps nearer,
Mieke raises his right hand to trace the six well-sculpted core of Brandt before she pushes
him onto his bed, goes on the top of him, and inserts his proud glory in the middle of her
pleasure center. Both moan out of pleasure as they share another intimate night together.
After their bodies ignite, Mieke picks up her clothes and shoes and puts them on. Brandt who is
laying on his bed asks her to stay for the night, but Mieke says nothing and decides to leave.
In the morning in front of the mansion, Sigurd greeted Kaiser with the news about
the British special agent in their area and the threat it may bring to the former general.
Kaiser is unbothered by the news and his attention is focused on the more important things to do,
so Sigurd takes this moment to courteously exit and do his other duties. Seconds after
his assistant goes away, Kaiser catches Mieke on her way toward him. The maid carries a small
pouch of bread and hands it over to Kaiser. Using the crumbled bread, the former general gives the
bread to Mieke and asks her to feed the ducks. Both of them exchange a conversation when Kaiser
spots Brandt in the field and calls him to come. When Brandt comes near, Kaiser tells him about
the British spy who goes after him, so Brandt reassures Kaiser of his safety. After their
little conversation, Kaiser orders Mieke to show Brandt to his new room in the mansion.
Once they get inside the room, the two exchange their full names to each other, but before the
conversation gets further, Mieke breaks the line by saying the forbidden rule of copulation
among the staff. If both of them get caught, Mieke says that they may lose their position.
Instead of minding the forbidden rule, Brandt asks about the location of Mieke’s room,
to which the latter answers before she gets out. Days after, Mieke silently exits the mansion and
proceeds her way to the Church. There, she meets his ally, Pastor Hendriks. She tells them the
alarming news about detecting the special agent’s location. Hendrik asks when will Mieke do her
hideous plan, but the maid needs more time. The pastor reassures him that they will help her get
out once she’s done doing her duty. After their secret conversation, Mieke goes out of the Church
and nervously walks her way back to the mansion. Once she enters her room, Mieke gasps when her
eyes catch Brandt laying on her bed, reading the content on her blue book. Brandt apologizes for
how he treats her during their first meeting and tells her how he wants her to be his. Meanwhile,
the tracking system of Kaiser’s army guards finds that the British special agent is located
somewhere in the village and they plan to raid the location once they confirmed the exact place.
Going back to Mieke and Brandt in the maid’s room, both lay on the bed after their intimate session.
Mieke stares at Brandt while she bottles up her courage. Seconds later, Mieke confesses to Brandt
that she is Jewish, but the man does not care about the information. After a brief moment, they
fall asleep but Brandt wakes up again from his same bad dream. He stands and wears his clothes,
tells Mieke to keep her personal information between them, and walks out of her room.
Right after he comes from Mieke’s room, Brandt sees the inspector who tracks the special agent.
The inspector informs him about the search that they plan to conduct in the village
and about the visit of Himmler, the head of SS. After both men part ways,
Brandt proceeds to the dining hall to tell Kaiser a secret when Hermine excitedly enters the room to
tell her husband about the visit of Himmler. After hearing the good news, Hermine plans
to prepare ahead. In the middle of her excited speech, Brandt decides to exit the dining room.
He meets Sigurd and the assistant informs him that the Gestapo, the security team of Himmler,
will conduct a search throughout the mansion before he arrives. When Sigurd is about to go
away, Brandt asks him if they keep firing arms in the mansion and who cleans it.
The assistant calmly answers that they possess such weapons because Kaiser uses them and the
footmen clean these things. Brandt clarifies if the maids also clean a firing weapon,
but Sigurd disapproves of his question. When the assistant asks why Brandt inquires about it,
the captain prohibits himself to disclose the information and says his gratitude
instead before he exits the mansion. Upon walking, Hermine approaches Brandt
and walks beside him. She tells him the importance of Himmler’s visit to the mansion is to bring the
hope of getting Kaiser back to his throne again, so Hermine emphasizes to Brandt the
importance of his impression to the head of SS because he is Kaiser’s personal bodyguard.
Brandt politely acknowledges Hermine’s expectation before he courteously asks to leave.
Hours before Himmler’s arrival, the Gestapo arrives to start their search at the mansion.
Everyone goes out of their respective rooms to avoid distractions. When Mieke makes her way
down the stairs, she hears the thugs of Gestapo’s footsteps on each corner. Her heart pounds as if
it wants to go out of her chest. When she proceeds outside, she carries a small pouch that contains
the crumbled bread for the ducks. Mieke hands it over to Kaiser and the old man talks to him and
tries to start a fun conversation, but Mieke can only give a fake smile out of her nervousness.
Knowing that Mieke hides her firing weapon in her room, Brandt orders the security to
search for different rooms and he personally goes inside Mieke’s room and finds the weapon
under her side table. After the search, Mieke exasperatedly goes inside her room
and breathes out when she sees her weapon in the same place where she keeps it.
On one side, Brandt is outside the mansion and exchanges a conversation
with the inspector when he sees Mieke exits again while she carries a large brown bag.
In the church, Mieke exaggeratedly knocks on the door and graspingly tells the pastor about the
coming of Himmler to the mansion. Mieke further elaborates that Himmler will come in the afternoon
and with her courage, she plans to kill Himmler today. The pastor tries to stop the enrage maid,
but Mieke wants to get even with Himmler, who kills her father and husband.
Little do they know; Brandt secretly peaks at the window to hear their conversation.
In the evening, Hendriks continuously presses the tracking button to contact London,
but Kaiser’s security team already knocks on his door and successfully catches him
A few hours later, Brandt stays in his room when Mieke suddenly walks in.
Out of shame, the woman is about to go away but Brandt makes her stay. Once they get closer,
both of them share an intimate night once again and sleep on Brandt’s bed after.
When both of them wake up, but before Mieke exits his room, Brandt asks her to marry him.
Surprise envelops the maid’s expression and she declines by stating again her religion. Before
their conversation gets longer, someone suddenly bangs on Brandt’s door, leaving the two in shock.
In Kaiser’s private room, Hermine disgustingly tells her husband about the affair between Brandt
and Mieke. The two ashamedly stand beside one another and cannot make eye contact with anyone
in the room. Hermine exaggeratedly asks both of them to pack their belongings and leave,
but Kaiser calmly asks if he could privately talk to Brandt and Mieke. Hermine unbelievably reacts
to her husband’s response, but she still follows his order. In their private conversation, Kaiser
admits that he has two illegitimate sons and he is not a hypocrite to their fornication. Therefore,
Kaiser still allows them to work under his roof. After their encounter with Kaiser,
the inspector contacts Brandt to go to their place. Once Brandt reaches the location,
the inspector tells him that the pastor is the special agent. When they get inside, Brandt
horribly looks at the naked pastor who showers in his own blood. The security repeatedly knocks
him out last night to force him to drop further information regarding the British’s hideous plan.
To mask his horrified reaction, Brandt praises the inspector before he gets out of the place
and lights up a stick to calm his nerves. When Himmler is about to arrive in the afternoon,
everyone is busy preparing for their assigned task. The maids are lighting the candles and
preparing for the dining table, the guards are scattered around the mansion, but Mieke is busy
filling her firing weapon with bullets as she also fills up her courage to execute her revenge.
Before Himmler arrives, Mieke goes with the other maids and lines up in front of the mansion.
Kaiser, Hermine, and the staffs in the mansion graciously welcome Himmler and
lead him to his room. After the arrival,
Brandt confronts Mieke and tells her that the Gestapo had already caught the pastor
and forcibly interrogates him. Mieke shockingly asks Brandt how he learns their secret role.
Brandt confesses that he follows her in the church and sees her firing a weapon hiding in her room.
Brandt dismayingly asks if Mieke is using him and expects him to betray his country for the woman,
but Mieke denies his accusation and encourages him to do their individual duties. Out of hopelessness
for their complicated situation, their arms envelop each other to gather their strength.
In Brandt’s room, he and the inspector are enjoying their drink when Himmler suddenly walks
inside. The SS head tells them about Kaiser’s return to taking his throne, but the only purpose
of this is to take the remaining monarchist sympathizers out by assigning Brandt and the
inspector to work under his command and report in his office about any communication in the mansion.
The two men gladly agree to Himmler’s command, but Brandt tells the information to Sigurd and
entrusts him to tell Himmler’s deception to Kaiser. After he leaves Sigurd, Brandt
proceeds to Mieke’s room but he finds no one. In the middle of the night along the woods,
Mieke goes to Kaiser before she leaves. Before she drops his last message to him, Kaiser confronts
Mieke that he knows she is the secret agent. After she nervously looks at the man, Kaiser collapses.
Mieke shouts for help and Brandt hears her voice. Hermine and Sigurd go to the woods,
while Brandt receives a call from Gestapo. Once the call ends, Brandt tells Mieke that the Gestapo
has already learned her true identity. To help her from escaping, Brandt uses the intercommunication
device in each room to announce the secret agent’s presence in the mansion without disclosing that
it is Mieke. He commands everyone to not get out of their rooms without his permission.
Brandt drives the van that carries Kaiser, leaves Sigurd and Hermine behind,
and pretends to drive Kaiser to the nearest hospital. But his true plan is to get Mieke inside
their car and helps her to escape. When they arrive at the end of the road along the woods,
Mieke accepts Brandt’s invitation to marry him only if he finds her after the war.
After that, Mieke walks away while she carries her remaining things in her small bag.
Years later, Brandt receives a small brown package from the Red Cross, which he impatiently opens.
Inside of it is the blue book that Mieke uses to read inside her room. Surprise and
excitement cover Brandt’s face, so he instantly opens the cover of the book and finds Mieke’s
address written on the first page. Teary-eyed, Brandt smiles as the longing for his lovely
woman fills up his heart. He dials the phone beside him to deliver the good news to Kaiser.
The movie ends with Mieke in her big coat, patiently sitting on the bench
in front of the lake when a staff fetches her and lead her on their way to Kaiser.