The Debt

Suspenseful Scenes Send Surprises and Splendid Satisfaction While Collecting The Debt
The Debt, R, *****, Helen Mirren, Jesper Christensen, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas. Focus Features film. Director John Madden. This film is based on the film “Ha Hov”. Length 112 minutes.

“The Debt” brings intensity to the audience from the very beginning of this film. The plot is about the famous Intelligence Agency in Israel. The agency is called the Mossad. I am sure everyone knows about their expertise in keeping Israel safe and capturing or disposing of Israel’s enemies.
The film follows three agents on a mission to find Vogel - The Surgeon of Birkenau who tortured and killed Jewish people during the Holocaust. Vogel is played by Jessper Christensen.
Three Mossad agents are dispatched to capture Vogel and bring him back to Israel for trial. The Israeli intelligence located him in East Berlin. The audience observes the agents as they find Vogel and confirm his identity. He is working as a gynecologist now.
The audience meets the three agents in 1965. They are Rachel (Jessica Chastain), David (Sam Worthington, and Stefan (Marton Csokas). Rachel makes an appointment with the gynecologist war criminal in order to confirm he is actually The Surgeon of Birkenau.
The film moves from 1965 to 1997 as the audience follows the tense story. We observe what happens in 1965 with the three agents and then later their lives in 1997. In 1997, the agents are played by Rachel (Helen Mirren), David (Ciaran Hinds), and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson). We see their lives in 1997 with their past hauntingly eating at them. Stefan is the leader during the early assignment. They all have their respective roles with lots of ghosts from the past.
It is an unusual way to tell the story, but I found myself totally captivated with every scene. We learn a great deal about these three people, along with their motives, and their dedication. The horrors of the Holocaust are discussed and a few pictures are shown, but we are spared the graphic videos of the atrocities.
The personalities of each agent are shown through their conversations and gestures. Their body language says a great deal about their tortured lives. A gesture or a look reveals so much about each character and their respective demons.
The life of each person seems to be burdensome as the audience observes them in 1997. Viewing the film the audience will understand one reason when the song She’s Not There by the Zombies plays during a party. This subtle message brings back memories of the past and the sadness of mistakes of the heart.
Throughout this film, the audience will be glued to every scene and every word. It is certainly a tense film with great acting and a look into the heart of darkness known as The Holocaust. “The Debt” demonstrates how The Holocaust affected so many people and continues to haunt us today.
One scene brings to life the psychological elements of being locked in a room for days with a monster along with the stress of being confined with colleagues who have to live with their mistakes. Stress and pressure sometimes causes errors to be made.
Each agent has to accept their own demons as The Surgeon of Birkenau pushes their buttons in sickening ways.
The movie is like watching two movies at the same time - the prequel and the sequel. I highly recommend this film for excellent story telling, strong intensity, and super suspense right up to the final second. As John 8:32 states, “Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” This gives an in-depth meaning to the lives of the three agents.