The espionage thriller begins in 1997 as shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel (Helen Mirren) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) about their former colleague David (Ciarn Hinds). All three have been venerated for decades by their country because of the mission that they undertook back in 1965 when the trio (portrayed respectively by Jessica Chastain Marton Csokas and Sam Worthington) tracked down Nazi war criminal Vogel (Jesper Christensen) in East Berlin. At great risk and at considerable personal cost the teams mission was accomplished - or was it The suspense builds in and across two different time periods with startling action and surprising revelations.
Review
The Debt is a Nazi huntspy thriller all rolled into one and it's nice to see a classic thriller that takes the subject matter seriously and relies on suspense to keep us in its grip. I was at the edge of my seat for most of the time and there's plenty of surprising turns in the story to keep even the most jaded enthralled.
Most of todays inept filmmakers rely on blowing stuff up hoping that this will count as suspense. It also is such a breath of fresh air in an appalling year of C grade superhero movies and obscure comic book adaptations. Hopefully this does well so Hollywood can go back to making well written thrillers and dramas like they used to.
Best suspense thriller of 2011 so far.