The Devil’s Arithmetic

The film opens with Hannah in a tattoo parlor, debating what tattoo she wants for herself. She checks the clock and realizes she is late for the family Passover dinner. The moment sets up her resistance to family tradition while foreshadowing the time-travel premise.

At the seder Hannah dreads the endless family stories and resents the past. Her aunt hints that Hannah resembles her namesake Chana but won't reveal who Chana was. The scene shows her disconnect from family history and sets up the looming portal.

Hannah opens the front door to greet Elijah, but instead finds a Polish village. The moment abruptly transports her to 1941, marking a shift from modern life to the past. The vivid switch introduces the central time-travel premise.

Hannah discovers she is in the home of Rivka and is believed to be Chana's cousin. They identify Aunt Gitl and explain Hannah's sickness with cholera, which has confused her about reality. This introduction grounds her in a family history she is only beginning to understand.

The next day the family goes to a village wedding that is interrupted by Nazi soldiers announcing resettlement. The village temple is burned as the Nazis leave. The scene foreshadows the impending deportations and brutality they will face.

After a long journey, the family reaches a Nazi concentration camp. Their valuables are stolen, they are shaved, tattooed, and imprisoned. The sequence establishes the dehumanizing process of deportation.

Inside the camp, life remains brutal, but Hannah tells fairy tales to the women in her bunk to lift spirits. She insists she knows what is coming because of her history classes, though others doubt her. The act shows her coping mechanism and leadership in adversity.

When typhus hits a family and a male escape attempt is staged, guards intervene, and several men are executed by hanging. The camp's harsh conditions and the constant threat of death heighten Hannah's fear. The violence underscores the fragility of life in the camp.

The commandant orders those sick with typhus to the gas chamber; Hannah switches places with Rivka before the commandant sees her. She enters the chamber and is transported back to the present. The act becomes the narrative hinge that connects past and present.

Hannah awakens surrounded by her family, who think she had too much to drink and passed out. The return marks a reversal of the journey and reveals she carried memories and knowledge of the past. She embraces her aunt Eva and calls Rivka, connecting with her family in a new way.

They speak privately after the awakening, and Hannah fills in details she previously did not know. This conversation deepens the link between Hannah and Rivka and clarifies family history.

The film ends with the entire family singing traditional songs at the table, signifying Hannah's re-acceptance into the family. The moment reveals growth from alienation to belonging.