The Lives of Others (2006)
Before the Fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany's Secret Police Listened to Your Secrets.
In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 23 March 2006 |
| Genre | Drama, Thriller |
| Director | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck |
| Starring | Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe and Sebastian Koch |
| Runtime | 137 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 8.3/10 · Metacritic 89/100 · Rotten Tomatoes 92% · IMDb 8.4/10 · TMDB users 8.0/10 |
Where to watch The Lives of Others
We could not find The Lives of Others on any of the subscription services we track in the US right now. That changes often; open it in Binge Boss and we will show you where it lands.
Rent or buy
You can rent The Lives of Others on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango at Home and FlixFling. It is also for sale on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch The Lives of Others in 10 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Austria | In Austria, The Lives of Others is available on Max for €11.99 a month. |
| Belgium | In Belgium, The Lives of Others is available on Prime Video for €4.99 a month. |
| Denmark | In Denmark, The Lives of Others is free on Drtv. |
| France | In France, The Lives of Others is available on Prime Video for €6.99 a month. |
| Germany | In Germany, The Lives of Others is available on Max for €11.99 a month. |
| Japan | In Japan, The Lives of Others is available on U-NEXT for ¥2189 JPY a month. |
| Liechtenstein | In Liechtenstein, The Lives of Others is available on Max. |
| Luxembourg | In Luxembourg, The Lives of Others is available on Prime Video for €8.99 a month. |
| South Korea | In South Korea, The Lives of Others is available on Wavve for ₩10900 a month, Tving for ₩10900 a month and Watcha. |
| Switzerland | In Switzerland, The Lives of Others is available on Prime Video for CHF8.90 a month and Max for CHF16.90 a month. |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
The Lives of Others is a 137-minute thriller that trades in silence rather than explosions. It follows a Stasi officer who monitors a playwright and his lover, only to find his own moral compass drifting toward the people he is paid to destroy. The tension comes from listening, not looking. You hear the music, the arguments, the quiet moments, and you realize the spy is changing before the targets even know he is there. It is a slow burn that relies on the weight of what is not said. The camera stays still while the characters unravel. It is a film that asks you to sit with the discomfort of complicity.
What the critics said
Critics treated it with the kind of respect usually reserved for quiet disasters that turn out to be masterpieces. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 92% score, while Metacritic settles on 89. Roger Ebert called it "a powerful but quiet film," a description that feels less like a review and more like a warning to check your surroundings. The consensus notes the performances stay with you, which is high praise for a movie about surveillance. It is the sort of thriller that makes you check the ceiling for cameras.
How it did with audiences
No box office figures exist for The Lives of Others, so the money question remains a mystery. Instead, we look to the people who actually watched it. On TMDB, users rate it 8 out of 10. IMDb agrees, listing a weighted average of 8.4 out of 10 as of April 2026. Two different groups, two different scales, one shared feeling.
Awards
The Lives of Others took 6 awards from 8 nominations. The list includes the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film and the Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also swept the 2006 European Film Awards for Best Film, Best Actor for Ulrich Mühe, and Best Screenwriter for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. A César for Best Foreign Film rounded out the haul. A tidy collection for a film about surveillance.
What came next for the cast
Sebastian Koch and Ulrich Tukur shared a pre-2006 habit: both appeared in the same 2002 film, Amen. The careers diverged from there. Koch’s post-2006 credits include Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl, and A Good Day to Die Hard. Tukur followed with The White Ribbon, Largo Winch II, and In the Fade. The list does not prove one title changed the other. It just shows two different paths leaving the same starting line.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched The Lives of Others.
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Sources
- The Lives of Others on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q153882 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “The Lives of Others” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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