Max is showing great things this year; I am currently approaching the end of True Detective: Night Countrywhich has had me watching behind my fingers for much of it, and one of the most anticipated shows is The sympathizer.
It's an A24 movie, so you know it's going to be unusual, and now that the second trailer is out, we can get a clearer idea of its dark humor. Now we also know when we can see it: the show will debut on Max on April 14, 2024.
What is The Sympathizer about?
According to HBO, the limited series will be “a gripping exploration of identity and America, a gripping spy novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.” Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The sympathizer is the story of a half-Vietnamese, half-French spy who is torn between his loyalty to North Vietnam and his comrades in the South Vietnamese army.
He escapes to Los Angeles after the fall of Saigon and in the United States continues spying for his native country, not entirely voluntarily. Oh, and he also gets a job as a consultant on a Vietnam War movie that's not a million miles away. Platoon either Apocalypse now. The film is part spy thriller and part satire on cross-cultural confusion.
Hoa Xuande (Cowboy Bebop, hungry ghosts) plays the heroine, Sandra Oh (Kill Eve) is “a liberated feminist in the middle of a love triangle” and Robert Downey Jr, who plays multiple antagonists, are the key names here, and the cast also includes Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Vy Le and Alan Trong. The showrunner is Park Chan-wook, whose older boy is widely considered, and rightly so, a classic action thriller: he will also direct the first episodes.
The sympathizer will air on Max, one of the best streaming services, starting April 14, 2024. While you wait, check out our roundup of the best Max series for more this weekend.
