I felt exactly the same as you.
I had read the diary many years ago as a teenager, and had been saddened of course, but this was the first time I actually saw it on screen, having somehow missed the earlier adaptions.
I had known that Anne and Margot died in a concentration camp, but hadn't known the full horrifying circumstances. I had for some reason imagined them being held in a camp similar to a POW camp and having been unfortunate to have contracted typhus so close to the end of the war.
Seeing this film made me realise just how much Anne and her sister (and the others, of course) endured between 1 August 1944 when her diary ended, and March of 1945 when she died, and prompted me to read furher, particularly Otto Frank's biography, and the accounts of other Bergen-Belsen survivors.
It is indeed terrifying to realise just how cruel and merciless people can be, at the same time we also see just how selfless people can be, i.e. the helpers, and Anne's friend who risked being shot to throw meagre food supplies to her over the wire fence.
This was certainly a very well made film, and a fitting tribute to Anne Frank and the other hideaways. It is unfortunate that they were unable to include actual excerpts from the diary, but this didn't really detract from the experience, and there were many little authentic references, such as Anne pointing out to Peter the 'Little Dipper' constellation, which was referenced in the diary.
I don't know how Otto Frank was able to cope either, but if the diary helped him to find a new purpose in life and to carry on, I believe that would have made Anne feel that her writing had served a worthwhile purpose, quite apart from its wider impact.
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