The Debt | Review
‘The Debt’ is an interesting spy thriller – it takes place in two different timelines, with the same three characters, but played by six different actors. The film, directed by John Madden (‘Shakespeare in Love’), balances its two timelines well and uses this unique format to its advantage by revealing certain details we hold to be true in one timeline, while the other timeline proves these details false. The thriller aspect of the film benefits from this, thus making ‘The Debt’ entertaining and effective.
In present day, the three major spies (former spies, to be more specific) Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren), David Peretz (Ciaran Hinds), and Stefan Gold (Tom Wilkinson) are being honored for their bravery in a mission thirty years prior. Rachel’s daughter, Sarah, has written a book detailing the trio’s successful mission, reuniting the three former spies in the celebration.
Aside from the present day, half of ‘The Debt’ takes place thirty years in the past, to the mission the three spies were involved in. The younger versions of the trio are portrayed by Jessica Chastain (from ‘The Tree of Life‘ and ‘The Help‘) as Rachel; Sam Worthington (‘Avatar‘) as David; and Marton Csokas as Stefan. We see the struggles the three young spies must endure, as their mission is one they absolutely cannot fail. A Nazi war criminal, Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen) aka the Surgeon of Birkenau, must be captured and brought back to Israel in order to be put on trial for his heinous crimes against humanity.
The scenes depicted in the past are where most of the film’s tension and action are located. The three young spies are forced to live together in East Berlin as they wait for the appropriate time to act against Vogel. During this stay tensions ensue between the three, and romances form. Rachel and David pose as a married German couple, and Rachel gets closer to Vogel, who’s new occupation is an OB/GYN specialist. The clinic sessions that feature Rachel and Vogel engaging in small conversations is full of tension, as Rachel must be careful of what she reveals, and must continue playing the part of a German woman.
The present day scenes are less thrilling, but are more interesting because the older versions of the characters know more than we do as an audience. They’re scheming, discussing things, and hiding important information.
The two different set of actors and actresses match the differing tones set by the two time periods. The younger actors perform more excitingly, whereas the older actors are more talk and less action; though Helen Mirren has a good action scene at the end of the film. The performances by the younger actors are good, though the film doesn’t demand anything more of them. There’s not enough depth in the romance between Rachel and David, and far more action is spent more on the past scenes than is emotion. The older actors are automatically good in their performances just by their experience and seniority. It’s an established fact that Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson are fantastic actors.
‘The Debt’ isn’t a game-changer in the spy thriller genre, but it’s a certainly a good one. The film could have improved upon it’s character and emotional depth, but the film’s great execution of its two set of timelines and characters, plot twists and dramatic reveals, and strong cast makes up for the flaws ‘The Debt’ may have.
