Prague-shot post-WWII drama ‘The Defeated’ premieres on Netflix

Update: the version of The Defeated now streaming on Netflix appears to be the original eight-episode version released in Germany as Shadowplay, not the six-episode international version described below.

The Defeated, a post-WWII drama starring Taylor Kitsch, Michael C. Hall, and Logan Marshall-Green set in Berlin but shot on locations in Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic in 2019, premieres on Netflix in the United States, Czech Republic, and other localizations worldwide from this Wednesday, August 18.

Shot in the Czech Republic under the title Shadowplay and initially released under that name in Germany last year, the series was recut from eight to six episodes by foreign distributors and retitled The Defeated for international release. The original eight-episode version appears to be the one now streaming on Netflix.

The Defeated stars Taylor Kitsch (John Carter, Lone Survivor) as Max McLaughlin, a Brooklyn cop who comes to Berlin in the aftermath of the second World War to help rebuild a police force in the decimated capital of Germany. German actress Nina Hoss (A Most Wanted Man) plays a former university professor who joins the new Berlin police force and assists him in efforts to take down Berlin’s crime kingpin, played by Sebastian Koch (Bridge of Spies).

Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus) co-stars as Mortiz, Max’s older brother and an infantryman who has returned to Germany to hunt Nazis. Dexter’s Michael C. Hall plays American Vice Consul Tom Franklin, and Tuppence Middeton (The Imitation Game) stars as his wife.

The Defeated was shot entirely in the Czech Republic, under the title Shadowplay, for about four months from April to September of 2019 at a budget of about 750 million crowns ($35 million).

A largely-abandoned former sugar factory was used to recreate the dusty streets of bombed-out Berlin. Prague’s Invalidovna complex was converted into a Jewish hospital in the German capital, where an action scene takes place.

In addition to production in Prague, The Defeated also filmed scenes in Doksy, Karlovy Vary, Kladno, Lenešice, Mladá Boleslav, Ploskovice, Slapy, and Ústí nad Labem.

Despite an impressive cast and release in Germany last October (under the title Shadowplay), The Defeated has sat on the shelf for much of the past year, seeing release on some European streaming services in a heavily edited version. Writer-Director Måns Mårlind (Underworld: Awakening) previously spoke out about the international release of The Defeated.

“It’s sad for the sake of the audience, this is a compromised version,” Mårlind told Swedish media last December.

“They wanted an American version […] The hero has been made only good, the villain only evil. A couple of actors have been cut down to extras.”

“Several actors dislike it so much that they do not want to participate in the marketing of The Defeated. Everything that I see as less conventional has been removed,” added the director.

With little fanfare, The Defeated hits Netflix in the United States, Czech Republic, and other world territories from August 18th.