The trailer for The Sympathiser makes it difficult to determine what is going on, which appears to be the goal of the film. The buzzy new Max series from Robert Downey Jr., Park Chan-wook, and A24 crosses genres and tones, tilts from tragic to satirical, and covers the complicated history of the post-Vietnam War era—all with an enigmatic, unknown spy (Hoa Xuande) in the center.
The fact that Downey portrays multiple distinct scary avatars of American imperialism is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of The Sympathizer’s several levels of mystery and deception.
The Sympathiser, based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, is an espionage thriller and cross-cultural humor about the hardships of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist who observes during the final days of the war in Vietnam and his new life as a refugee in Los Angeles, in which he learns the truth about his spying days aren’t over,” according to the series synopsis.
The new teaser focuses on “The Captain” (Xuande) and his conflicting loyalties—or, more accurately, lack thereof. His chameleon-like talents are observed by both his love interest, Sandra Oh, and Downey’s CIA spymaster.
