The Debt (2011)

The Debt is a drama-thriller based on an Israeli film of the same name. It focuses mainly on the baggage that three Nazi hunters carry with them for 30 years before a turn of events puts into question their loyalty to Israel, each other, and the greater good. Helen Mirren stars as Rachel, the protagonist, who is seen throughout the film reflecting on her past as a Mossad (The National Intelligence Agency of Israel) agent during her team’s mission to capture a notorious Nazi doctor who performed atrocious experiments in concentration camps. Rachel is the only woman in the three-person team, and her emotions scream through the camera—her uncertainty and the tension she feels are everywhere. The team includes David (Sam Worthington, Ciarán Hinds plays him in the present-day) whose sorrowful expressions are hard to understand until we learn his whole family perished in the Holocaust. Marton Csokas is Stefan (Tom Wilkinson plays the older character), the cocky leader of the group who is very hard to empathize with as the film drives into complexity. The setting mostly goes back and forth between East Berlin (1965) and Israel (1997). Most of the events that occur are seen through Rachel’s eyes, played by Jessica Chastain (who I have seen twice before this month, in Tree of Life and The Help). The Mossad agents are easy to imagine as real individuals. Although they are determined to fulfill their mission, you see their anxiety everywhere and feel the past of the Holocaust haunting their memories. And although the film is not really a psychological thriller, the Nazi doctor (played by Jesper Christensen who captures the immense cruelty of the doctor so subtly) gets into all of their heads in a bad bad way. Very effective. This is one of those rare movies that will seize you and keep you guessing as the plot unfolds, slowly unearthing the meaning behind the title.