IR Film Review: ROGUE AGENT [AMC+]
The idea of the notion of companionship or looking for the love of some sort can take a turn depending on circumstance. With "Rogue Agent", another film premiering on AMC+ after the recent "Stowaway", there is a consistency of the selections in a way while adhering to a thriller genre (this one though pulling from IFC Films stock). Both have been female led films with an active pursuit of truth but with flawed execution and yet important character beats. This one follows Alice Archer (Gemma Atherton) as an exceptional lawyer in England who has learned to survive and flourish in a man's world without settling for less. We meet Robert Freegard (James Norton) slightly earlier as he is supposedly running operatives near Belfast it seems and takes three younger adults under his wing after an op gone wrong to train them.
Freegard pursues Archer romantically some years later, as he is undercover working at a car dealership, until her deductive mind uncovers his secret but it has some other layers. The reason alot of this works at times is because it is about deconstructing what we want to hear versus what lengths somebody would go to manipulate and for what reason if any. Norton plays Freegard with a Bateman like veracity without resorting to violence per se. It is a steady line but also mean because he creates a sense of dread (especially in Sophie [Marisa Abela]) to say nothing about another he has caused strife to because there seemed to be no way out. Certain people operate like that but the aspect of Archer is interesting because she sees it coming and yet resolving it, you see the push and pull of what she wants to believe, how it integrates into her thought process and how it turns it out.
Shazid Latif (whom we last saw in "Star Trek: Discovery") plays a local cop in a bit role which is effective and likely him moving in a slightly new direction. The film is based partially on a real story but shows the power of words as control (this also took place in the 90s) so that angle needs to be taken into account. But as an IFC Films acquisition, it is a new approach since it is part of the AMC family. In this way it is interesting because films of that certain quality and mind set which might not be seen by as many people in the theater or in smaller areas of distribution like LA and NY might be able to experience these films right out of the gate in this setting. B
By Tim Wassberg
