Wasp Network

Olivier Assayas’s internationally-themed films have often concerned themselves with secret histories of the contemporary world – whether it’s the techno-sexual-financial negotiations of DEMONLOVER or the career of notorious terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez in 2010’s feature/miniseries CARLOS. His latest film is a further exploration of the realist espionage vein of CARLOS. That film’s lead Edgar Ramirez plays a pilot from Havana who one day leaves his wife (Penelope Cruz) for Miami, where he starts a new life, working to help other defectors. That’s how it looks – but in reality, René is part of an undercover network providing Cuba with information on anti-Castro activity. A byzantine fact-based intrigue also involves Gael García Bernal and Wagner Moura as characters who may not be what they seem, and who may not even be certain of their own place in the scheme of things. Visual and historical authenticity, with much location shooting in Cuba itself, provides the backbone to a narrative of absorbing intricacy. WASP NETWORK shows a versatile and adventurous director sticking his neck out with audacity, reworking the tropes of the international espionage drama to vivid and intellectually complex effect. (Jonathan Romney)