by Alex Billington
March 28, 2024
Source: YouTube
"Welcome to the world of spycraft!" Here we go - finally a proper trailer for this! Max has revealed the full official trailer for The Sympathizer series, following two intriguing teaser trailers already. Looks damn good! This is an adaptation of the award-winning book of the same name written by Viet Thanh Nguyen. It's developed by Don McKellar as a series, along with Korean mastermind Park Chan-wook, who is directing a few episodes as well. The series is an espionage thriller from A24 + HBO Max. Near the end of the Vietnam War in the 1970s, a plant who was embedded in the South Vietnam army flees to the United States and takes up residence in a refugee community, where he continues to secretly spy and report back to the Viet Cong. Hoa Xuande stars as "The Captain" spy main character, with Robert Downey Jr. as multiple American antagonist characters (all featured in here). It also stars Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Duy Nguyễn, Vy Le, Alan Trong, Sandra Oh, and Kieu Chinh. The more footage they reveal, the better this looks. Smart and sly and sneaky - also with plenty of dark, dry humor and clever commentary on America and espionage.
Here's the main official trailer (+ poster) for Max's new series The Sympathizer, from Max's YouTube:
You can rewatch the first teaser for Max's series The Sympathizer right here, and the second teaser here.
The series is based on the story of the Captain, a North Vietnam plant in the South Vietnam army. He is forced to flee to the United States with his general near the end of the Vietnam War. While living within a community of South Vietnamese refugees, he continues to secretly spy on the community and report back to the Viet Cong, struggling between his original loyalties and his new life. The Sympathizer is a series developed by filmmakers Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Thirst, Stoker, The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave) & Don McKellar (The Red Violin, This Movie Is Broken, "Michael: Every Day"). Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name written by Viet Thanh Nguyen, adapted for HBO by Don McKellar. With episodes directed by Park Chan-wook, Marc Munden, & Fernando Meirelles (City of God, Blindness). Exec produced by Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Amanda Burrell, Niv Fichman, Kim Ly, Ron Schmidt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Jisun Beck. HBO will premiere The Sympathizer series streaming on Max starting April 14th, 2024 coming up this spring. Still look good? Want to watch?