The Mole Agent
Director: Maite Alberdi

A quirky documentary film shot in a care home in Santiago, Chile, before Covid-19 hit, now carries extra resonance due to the plight of many older people whose isolation has been magnified by the pandemic.

Maite Alberdi has chosen to frame the footage of her fourth feature documentary as a kind of espionage crime caper. Rómulo is a retired criminal investigator who runs a detective agency. He has a Chandler-esque office, complete with slatted blinds and his name painted on the glass-panelled door. Against a Bond-themed soundtrack, he interviews candidates for a new surveillance mission. So far, so noir. But the interviewees are all octogenarians, unfamiliar with mobile phones let alone spy cameras hidden in pens or spectacle frames, and have to be tested on how well they can memorise instructions.

The humour is gentle, and the chosen operative, Sergio, who is recently widowed, embraces the opportunity to do something “mentally liberating’ and to feel once again “like the person I used to be”.