The true-life story of pilot Dieter Dengler. During the Vietnam war, he is shot down while flying over Laos and held in a prisoner of war camp. Conditions are terrible, yet Dieter remains positive and plans to escape. But the jungle may prove even more dangerous and hostile than the prison.

In this dramatic telling of a tremendous true story, Werner Herzog turns the subject of his doc Little Dieter Needs to Fly into a human fight for survival in the jungle’s surreal depths. Christian Bale is a harrowing lead, but the real surprise is Steve Zahn’s manic, career-best performance.