Look Who’s Back, a comedy about the return of Hitler, has become an unlikely hit in Germany, heading to the top of the box office chart in its third week of release.

The Borat-style film, based on the bestselling novel by Timur Vermes, puts Adolf Hitler back into German society and utilises the reactions of real people for humour. Over the weekend, it knocked Pixar’s hit adventure Inside Out off the top spot and became the country’s No 1 release. It has already made around £8.5m.

“Germans should be able to laugh at Hitler, rather than viewing him as a monster, because that relieves him of responsibility for his deeds and diverts attention from his guilt for the Holocaust,” director David Wnendt told the Guardian. “But it should be the type of laugh that catches in your throat and you’re almost ashamed when you realise what you’re doing.”

The plot imagines that Hitler has woken up in modern day Berlin, with no memory of any event post-1945 and ends up getting his own TV show. The book was a huge hit in Germany, selling 14m copies.

The film also highlights the increasing influence of the far right in Europe. “We’re highlighting that the danger of a resurgence is very much alive,” said Wnendt.

Look Who’s Back is the second homegrown hit this year for Germany’s Constantin Film, which also released Suck Me Shakespeer 2, a comedy that has made over £42m.