Secrets and spies
The TRUE STORY of Cuban double agents who infiltrated the CIA in the1990s
himself a defector. It’s a shock to his wife Olga (Cruz), who is left behind to raise their daughter.
Although René is branded a traitor, what Olga and most people don’t know is that he is actually a Cuban agent sent to Florida to infiltrate and disrupt the activities of the US networks trying to destabilise Cuba and topple Fidel Castro’s communist regime.
SPLIT PERSONALITY
Once in Florida, René makes contact with José Basulto (Leonardo Sbaraglia), a CIA operative dedicated to overthrowing Castro through drug smuggling and terrorism. René begins carrying out missions for the Americans, while secretly reporting back to the Cuban regime.
‘In most movies, spies are portrayed as caricatures of good and evil, but in this film there’s a very human approach to the story,’ says Ramírez. ‘Was it worth it to leave your family behind, to crush their heart and have everyone in your life think you’re a traitor? I don’t know. That’s why the movie is so interesting. To be a spy is to split your personality constantly.’
Meanwhile, two years after René’s defection, Juan Pablo Roque (Narcos’ Wagner Moura) also pretends to defect, swimming shark-infested waters to seek asylum. He, too, ends up in Miami, where Basulto recruits him to the cause.
The cast also includes Mozart in the Jungle’s Gael García Bernal as Gerardo Hernandez, who supervises the moles in Florida, organising them into the so-called Wasp Network.
The movie was shot on location in Cuba, which was fascinating for the cast and crew.
‘It was the first time that the Cubans opened the doors to have film-makers explore their contemporary political history,’ says director Olivier Assayas. ‘We were shooting at a tense time, particularly due to the Trump administration. I won’t say we were spied on, but we were monitored, to put it mildly…’
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