AllMovie

Reg Traviss' sweeping, tumultuous historical epic Joy Division recounts the travails of a young man living and operating as a soldier at the far right of the political spectrum, and the social upheaval that thrusts him to the other extreme, over the course of 17 years. The story opens in WWII Germany, where adolescent Thomas (Tom Schilling) falls in love with Melanie, a local girl. Despite his tender age, Thomas is drafted into the Nazi armed forces, where he contributes to an unsuccessful attempt fend off the encroaching Russians. Years later, a series of personal tragedies and setbacks from that invasion draw Thomas (played as an adult by Ed Stoppard) to Russia itself, where he is promptly recruited and trained as a KGB operative, and shuttled to London to spy on a wing of the service that is suspected of treason. When Thomas' superiors then order him to kill a close contact, he must, for the first occasion in his life, sharply define his loyalties, allegiances, and personal obligations. Bernadette Heerwagen, Lea Mornar, and Michelle Gayle co-star; Traviss penned the script.