The Exception is a 2016 romantic war film directed by David Leveaux (in his directorial debut) and written by Simon Burke, based on Alan Judd's 2003 novel The Kaiser's Last Kiss.

The film stars Jai Courtney, Lily James, Janet McTeer, and Christopher Plummer.

[4] The plot is a fictionalized account of the life of exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II (Plummer).

Before a visit from Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, Brandt notices a smell of gun oil from Mieke's room.

He follows Mieke when she visits the village pastor and hears her tell him that she is prepared to assassinate Himmler as revenge for the SS having murdered her father and husband.

He tells the lovers that he fathered illegitimate children before and after marrying his first wife, Empress Augusta Victoria.

He then tells Brandt and Dietrich that the invitation is a bluff, intended to draw out and execute anti-Nazi monarchists in the German resistance.

Mieke delivers to Wilhelm a message from Winston Churchill, offering the Kaiser political asylum and the throne of a defeated Germany after the war.

In Doorn, Colonel von Ilsemann informs Wilhelm that Brandt has called from Berlin with wonderful news.

Christopher Plummer's longtime manager and one of the film's lead producers, Lou Pitt, was recommended Alan Judd's novel The Kaiser's Last Kiss.

[9] On 7 July 2015, Jai Courtney was cast in the leading role as Captain Stefan Brandt.

[10] On 11 September 2015, Janet McTeer and Eddie Marsan joined the cast of The Kaiser's Last Kiss as Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz and Heinrich Himmler, respectively.

The site's critical consensus reads, "The Exception (The Kaiser's Last Kiss) elegantly blends well-dressed period romance and war drama into a solidly crafted story further elevated by Christopher Plummer's excellent work and the efforts of a talented supporting cast.