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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Number 24—originally titled Nr. 24—is a 2024 Norwegian biographical war drama about Gunnar “Kjakan” Sønsteby, one of the country’s most important resistance figures during the German occupation. The title is not a mathematical reference: it comes from Sønsteby’s wartime code name, Agent No. 24.
Directed by John Andreas Andersen, the approximately 1-hour-51-minute film combines a wartime resistance thriller with a later-life story about memory, responsibility, and the moral cost of fighting an occupying power. It is a feature-film dramatization based on real events, not a documentary or a scene-by-scene historical record.
What is Number 24 about?
The film begins in April 1940, when Nazi Germany invades Norway. Gunnar Sønsteby is presented as a 22-year-old office worker in Oslo—an apparently ordinary young man whose country has suddenly been occupied. He chooses to resist, and that decision draws him into a dangerous underground network.
As the occupation continues, Sønsteby becomes one of the Germans’ most wanted opponents. He works with Norwegian resistance groups, uses multiple identities, carries messages, organizes operations, and takes part in sabotage. The story is closely associated with Oslogjengen, the resistance group that operated in Oslo, as well as with the British Special Operations Executive and the Norwegian force later known as Kompani Linge.
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The film also moves between the occupation and the postwar life of an older Sønsteby. In those later scenes, younger people question him about the choices made during the war, including the use of ruthless and violent methods. That structure makes Number 24 more than a conventional escape-and-sabotage thriller: it asks how a society should remember resistance, violence, sacrifice, and the people who were forced to make impossible decisions.
Why is it called Number 24?
“Number 24” was Sønsteby’s best-known wartime code name. He used several aliases to protect himself from arrest, including Gunnar Lier, Erling Fjeld, and Krogh. “Agent 24” became particularly associated with his work connected to the British SOE.
Code names were not decorative in occupied Norway. They helped resistance members conceal their identities from German authorities and from collaborators who might expose underground networks. Sønsteby’s changing names reflect the practical reality of clandestine work: survival depended on compartmentalization, secrecy, forged identities, and constant movement.
Who was the real Gunnar Sønsteby?
Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby was born on January 11, 1918, in Tinn/Rjukan, Norway, and died in Oslo on May 10, 2012. Before the occupation, he worked as an accountant or accounting assistant. After Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, he became involved in resistance activity.
His wartime career included several interconnected roles. He became an important contact for resistance groups in the Oslo area, worked with the British SOE, and returned to Norway as a Kompani Linge operative. He was also associated with the leadership of Milorg’s central organization, the principal Norwegian home-front resistance structure, and with Oslogjengen.
The Norwegian Armed Forces describes Sønsteby as a resistance fighter, agent, and special-operations figure. He later became known as Norway’s highest-decorated soldier and a national symbol of resistance and the defense of freedom. His public reputation, however, was not built only on wartime exploits. After 1945, he spent decades giving lectures and speaking to younger generations about occupation, democracy, and the responsibilities that come with freedom.
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Is Number 24 a true story?
Yes, but it is a dramatized true story. The film is based on the documented life and resistance work of Gunnar Sønsteby. Its broad historical foundation is well established: Sønsteby was real; “No. 24” was his code name; he worked with the SOE and Kompani Linge; he was connected with Oslogjengen and Milorg; and he became one of Norway’s most honored wartime figures.
That does not mean every line of dialogue, action sequence, relationship, or chronological transition happened exactly as shown. Number 24 is a biographical feature film. It compresses years of activity into a manageable narrative, combines or rearranges events for dramatic purposes, and uses constructed scenes to show the emotional and moral pressure of underground work.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallThe screenplay drew on newer research by Petter Ringen Johannessen and Arnfinn Moland of the Norwegian Home Front Museum. That research strengthens the film’s historical basis, but it should not be mistaken for proof that each scene is a literal reconstruction. The safest way to approach the movie is to separate its documented historical arc from its dramatized dialogue, characterization, chronology, and action choreography.
The film’s central themes
Resistance is an ethical problem, not only an action plot
Sabotage films can make clandestine warfare appear strategically simple: identify the target, plant the charge, escape. The older-Sønsteby framing scenes complicate that formula. The film returns to questions that military success cannot erase: Who is placed in danger? What happens to civilians? How much secrecy is justified? When does necessary resistance become morally indefensible?
Those questions matter because resistance movements operated under conditions in which ordinary legal and moral procedures had been disrupted. Sønsteby’s choices helped oppose an occupation, but the film does not require viewers to treat every method as automatically innocent simply because the cause was just.
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Young people carrying adult responsibilities
Sønsteby was in his early twenties when Norway was invaded. The filmmakers deliberately used young actors to emphasize how young many resistance members were when they were forced to make life-and-death decisions. The contrast between the young man in wartime and the older man confronting a new generation gives the story its emotional continuity.
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The film’s premise therefore extends beyond “a young man becomes a hero.” It asks what happens when young people inherit responsibilities created by political failure, military invasion, and the collapse of normal institutions.
Memory, democracy, and the cost of freedom
Postwar memory is one of the film’s defining concerns. Sønsteby continued to speak publicly about his experiences and stressed that freedom cannot be treated as permanently guaranteed. The conversations with younger people connect the German occupation to a broader civic question: how can historical memory help later generations recognize the value—and fragility—of democratic institutions?
This also gives the film a measure of distance from uncomplicated hero worship. Sønsteby is presented as a major resistance figure, but the older character is challenged rather than placed beyond question. The result is a conversation between wartime necessity and contemporary ideas about accountability.
Cast and production details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Original title | Nr. 24 |
| English/U.S. title | Number 24 |
| Year | 2024 |
| Country and original language | Norway; Norwegian |
| Genre | War drama, suspense, and thriller |
| Runtime | Approximately 1 hour 51 minutes |
| Norwegian theatrical premiere | October 30, 2024 |
| Director | John Andreas Andersen |
| Screenplay | Erlend Loe, based on an original screenplay by Espen Lauritzen von Ibenfeldt |
| Principal cast | Sjur Vatne Brean as young Gunnar Sønsteby; Erik Hivju as older Sønsteby; Philip Helgar |
| Production and Norwegian distribution | Produced by Motion Blur; theatrical distribution in Norway by SF Norge |
| U.S. Netflix rating label | TV-MA |
The production comes from a Norwegian film context that includes companies associated with films such as The 12th Man, Troll, and Max Manus. That connection places Number 24 within Norway’s continuing tradition of making feature films about occupation and resistance.
Where can you watch Number 24?
Netflix’s U.S. title listing presented Number 24 as available to watch when checked on August 11, 2026. The listing also indicated download functionality and Norwegian original audio, with English subtitles and English audio description among the available options.
Streaming catalogs change by country and over time. This is therefore best stated as: Number 24 was available on the U.S. Netflix listing checked on August 11, 2026. It should not be described as permanently available on Netflix or as available in every territory. Viewers outside the United States should check their local Netflix catalog.
How was the film received?
Norwegian media reactions collected by Filmweb praised the film’s tension, acting, credibility, and historical storytelling. According to a distributor release reported in November 2024, the film attracted 90,000 cinema viewers during its opening weekend in Norway.
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In August 2025, Filmweb reported that Number 24 won the audience-voted Folkets Amanda at the Amandaprisene. That award is a meaningful indication of audience interest, but it should not be presented as proof of unanimous critical agreement.
Rotten Tomatoes listed the film at 100% from 11 critic reviews and a 95% audience score from more than 250 ratings on the page consulted for the research. Those figures can change, and the critic score is based on a small sample. They are useful reception signals, not a definitive measurement of the film’s quality or historical accuracy.
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Report from No. 24 by Gunnar Sønsteby
Sønsteby’s memoir is the most direct companion to the film because it gives readers the resistance leader’s own account of underground activity during the occupation. The English-language edition is particularly useful for readers who want to move from a dramatized interpretation to a personal wartime narrative. It is a memoir, so it should be read alongside—not instead of—archival and scholarly histories.
Nr. 24: Gunnar “Kjakan” Sønsteby – Krigen – freden – arven
This 2024 Norwegian-language biography by Petter Ringen Johannessen and Arnfinn Moland is a much larger treatment, listed at 458 pages. Its scope extends beyond the war to Sønsteby’s postwar life and legacy, making it a particularly strong choice for Norwegian-reading readers and serious students of Norwegian resistance history.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe Norwegian edition listed by ARK carries ISBN 9788202492762 and is described as covering the fighting in 1940, the early resistance movement, and the development of Sønsteby’s network. Edition availability may vary by country and retailer.
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What the movie leaves you with
Number 24 works best as both a resistance story and a history-and-memory film. It introduces an international audience to Gunnar Sønsteby’s wartime identity as Agent No. 24, while its older-generation framing asks whether commemorating a hero also requires examining the violence and uncertainty behind the heroic image.
For viewers who want only a fast-paced occupation thriller, the film supplies sabotage, aliases, pursuit, and danger. For viewers interested in the history, its real value lies in the questions surrounding those events: how ordinary people become clandestine operatives, how young resistance members bear extraordinary responsibility, and how a democracy remembers the people who fought to restore it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Number 24 a documentary?
No. Number 24, originally titled Nr. 24, is a Norwegian feature-film war drama based on the real life of resistance leader Gunnar Sønsteby. Its historical framework is documented, but dialogue, chronology, and some scenes are dramatized.
What does the number 24 mean in the film?
It refers to Gunnar Sønsteby’s wartime code name, Agent No. 24. He also used other aliases, including Gunnar Lier, Erling Fjeld, and Krogh.
Who was Gunnar Sønsteby?
Sønsteby was a Norwegian resistance fighter, SOE and Kompani Linge operative, and figure associated with Milorg and Oslogjengen during the German occupation. He later became Norway’s highest-decorated soldier and a prominent public educator on freedom and democracy.
What language is Number 24 in?
The original film is in Norwegian. Netflix’s U.S. listing checked on August 11, 2026 included English subtitles and English audio-description options, among other language settings.
Where is Number 24 streaming?
The U.S. Netflix listing checked on August 11, 2026 presented the film as available to watch. Availability is territory- and date-sensitive, so viewers should check the Netflix catalog for their own country.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Number 24 is a 2024 Norwegian dramatization of Gunnar Sønsteby’s resistance career, named for his code name Agent No. 24. Its historical foundation is real, but its scenes should be understood as feature-film storytelling rather than documentary evidence. The best follow-up is Sønsteby’s memoir, Report from No. 24, followed by the 2024 Norwegian biography for a broader account of his war, peace, and legacy.
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