Overview
A gripping tale of honor and betrayal unfolds in the heart of a military scandal.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- serious
- tense
- brooding
- historical film night
- serious cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly recognized the film as a meticulously mounted, serious historical investigation, while finding its pacing and conventional treatment less consistently compelling.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Picquart uncovers fabricated conclusions and bureaucratic concealment within French military counter-intelligence.
Dreyfus's conviction is driven by antisemitic hostility within the French army and its surrounding establishment.
Picquart follows espionage clues through military files, secret communications, and competing official accounts.
The film grounds its tension in late nineteenth-century military offices, tribunals, and meticulously reproduced official environments.
Films like An Officer and a Spy, and why
The Lives of Others
shared historical espionage, institutional corruption, and tense investigation of a miscarriage of justice
The Conformist
shared period political intrigue, antisemitism, and morally serious examination of state power
The Crucible
shared historical trial drama, wrongful accusation, and suspense built from bureaucratic injustice
The Insider
shared investigative thriller structure, paranoia, and a protagonist confronting entrenched official deceit
Movie Details
- Director
- Roman Polanski
- Release Date
- 2019-09-30
- Runtime
- 132 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (1629)
Cast
- Jean Dujardin
- Louis Garrel
- Emmanuelle Seigner
- Grégory Gadebois
- Hervé Pierre
- Wladimir Yordanoff
- Didier Sandre
- Melvil Poupaud
- Eric Ruf
- Mathieu Amalric
Common questions
- What is An Officer and a Spy about?
- A principled French intelligence officer risks his career and life to expose the military conspiracy behind Alfred Dreyfus’s wrongful conviction.
- What is An Officer and a Spy like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of An Officer and a Spy as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is An Officer and a Spy violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in An Officer and a Spy as mild.
- What did critics think of An Officer and a Spy?
- Critics broadly recognized the film as a meticulously mounted, serious historical investigation, while finding its pacing and conventional treatment less consistently compelling.
- Which films are like An Officer and a Spy?
- Films with a similar feel include The Lives of Others, The Conformist, The Crucible, and The Insider.
- How long is An Officer and a Spy?
- An Officer and a Spy runs 132 minutes.
