If you were ever wondering what happened to the German Kaiser after World War I, then you may want to check out a feature film entitled The Exception. The Exception is a 2016 romantic war drama film directed by David Leveaux (in his directorial debut) and written by Simon Burke, based on the 2003 novel The Kaiser’s Last Kiss by Alan Judd. The film stars Jai Courtney, Lily James, Janet McTeer and Christopher Plummer. The plot is a fictionalized account of the last few days in the life of exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II (Plummer), where a German soldier (Courtney) tries to determine if the Dutch resistance has planted a spy to infiltrate the Kaiser’s home in Holland during the onset of World War II, but falls for a young Jewish Dutch woman (James) during his investigation.

In 2014, Egoli Tossell Film announced that development on a film adaptation of Judd’s novel had begun. Principal photography lasted six weeks in 2015, across Belgium. The film held its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival in the Special Presentations section. The film received a limited release and video-on-demand release on 2 June 2017 through A24 and DirecTV Cinema in the United States. The film was released on 2 October 2017 in the United Kingdom through Signature Entertainment.