The Mole Agent

In Chile a private detective is looking for an agent on behalf of a client who suspects her mother is being mistreated in a care home. He advertises: man wanted, over eighty, able to use technology. The job goes to Sergio, eighty-three, who has recently lost his wife. The assignment is simple: move into the home as a resident, observe, report by phone. Sergio is no good at being an agent. He cannot hide the camera, cannot talk in private, and his reports get steadily more personal. What he finds is not abuse either: it is women who never have visitors. At that point the film drops the spy premise and starts describing loneliness, which is its real subject. Maite Alberdi directed. Sergio Chamy plays himself. It screened in the world cinema documentary competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It was nominated for best documentary feature at the 93rd Academy Awards, and was also Chile's international feature submission, making the shortlist of fifteen. Who it is for: anyone who likes warm, close documentary and stories about old age. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a real investigation. The spy frame is abandoned entirely at a certain point, and how much of some scenes was staged stays unclear.