15-year-old boy Michael Berg (David Kross) meets 36-year-old mysterious middle-aged female train conductor Hannah (Kate Winslet), and later the two develop a secret lover relationship. Hannah likes to lie in Michael's arms and listen to Michael reading for him. She is always immersed in the sound of reading. While young Michael is addicted to this relationship, he finds that he doesn't know Hannah at all. Suddenly one day, this mysterious woman left without saying goodbye. After a brief confusion and sadness, Michael started a new life. Although World War II was over, Germany's trial of Nazi war criminals continued. Michael, who became an intern at a law school, found a familiar figure while listening to the trial of Nazi war criminals. Although it has been 8 years, Michael still recognized at a glance that it was Hannah who had disappeared for 8 years. And this time, she sat in the defendant's seat of the Nazi war criminals trial court, and the past of this mysterious woman gradually became clear during the trial of the case. However, Micha discovers a Hannah who would rather risk her life to hide the secret. Hannah is eventually sentenced to life imprisonment, and the story of Micha (played by Ralph Fiennes) and Hannah continues... At the 81st Academy Awards in early 2009, the film received 5 nominations including Best Actress, and Winslet finally won the Oscar for Best Actress that year.