The Debt - Movie Review

The debt is a classic tale of espionage and intrigue set primarily in 1960's Berlin and is full of suspense along with several surprising twists and turns. You have three reluctant but extremely dedicated heroes and their brilliantly mad adversary who is at times on the level of Hannibal Lechter when it comes to creepy villainy. I enjoyed watching this movie as it doesn't try to force feed the story to the audience and also does a great job of weaving through plot lines that are revealed over two different time lines.




Split between 1997 and 1966, the movie tells the tale of three members of Mossad who were tasked with finding and capturing a Nazi war criminal in East Berlin. The story primarily revolves around the relationship between the lead characters Rachel, Stefan, and David during their mission and how they are each affected by their prisoner, the manipulative Dr. Vogel, who is played by Jesper Christensen. We are lead to this part of the story by events that take place in the later time period where tensions and intrigue between the three still remain.


Both Tom Wilkinson and Marton Csokas do a great job playing Stefan, who is the leader of the trio and we also get a solid performance from Sam Worthington as David. Unfortunately, Ciarán Hinds' version of David has limited screen time due to how the story unfolds. Rachel, played by both Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain is the key figure to the story as she is the catalyst for their plan to capture Dr. Vogel as well as being a potential love interest for both Stefan and David. This all leads to some serious twists and turns within the dynamics of their relationship as they prepare to execute their plan.


Overall this is a very well made movie that for some reason was delayed for about a year and then eventually thrown in to a September release date that is not conducive to big box office results. I'm not saying this would have been a big blockbuster of any type, but it deserved a little more shine than what it was eventually given. Hopefully you have a chance to see this movie and enjoy it as much as I did.