Academy Award® winner Helen Mirren and two-time Academy Award® nominee Tom Wilkinson star in The Debt, "a pulse-pounding and politically charged suspense thriller." (Karen Durbin, Elle) In 1966, three Mossad agents were assigned to track down a feared Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin, a mission accomplished at great risk and personal cost - or was it? Thirty years later, the suspense builds as shocking news and surprising revelations compel retired team member Rachel Singer (Mirren) to take matters into her own hands. Co-starring Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain and Ciarán Hinds, it's the film critics call "an intelligent thriller with superb performances." (USA Today) Starring: Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Jesper Christensen, Marton Csokas, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson Directed by: John Madden

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1016 in DVD
• Brand: NBC Universal
• Released on: 2011-12-06
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Dimensions: .0 pounds
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com
The Debt fuses physical and moral peril as it fuses past and present. In the contemporary half of the story, ex-Mossad agent Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren) tells and retells the story of how she and her fellow agents David Peretz (Ciarán Hinds, Rome) and Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom) captured and killed a Nazi war criminal. But in flashbacks to Cold War East Berlin, younger versions of Rachel, David, and Stephan (Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Marton Csokas, respectively) play out a significantly different series of events--and the gap between past and present takes its toll on all three in different (and in one case gut-wrenching) ways. Though Mirren, Hinds, and Wilkinson are a powerhouse trio, it's the Cold War scenes that take hold of the viewer. Jesper Christensen (as the Nazi) invests his conversations with Chastain and Worthington with silky insinuation and taunting contempt, building a devastating suspense. Fans accustomed to Worthington in his action-movie roles (Avatar, Clash of the Titans) will be surprised by the gentle vulnerability he shows here, but it's Chastain (The Tree of Life) who captures the movie's emotional core. She and Mirren perform a strange collaboration that can only happen in the movies, building a fierce and brittle woman out of their complementary performances. --Bret Fetzer

Most helpful customer reviews

75 of 83 people found the following review helpful.
If The Debt were a book, it would be one bloody page turner
By Renfield
I saw an advance screening of The Debt tonight. I'll admit, it was a film I kept my eye on once I read about it on the IMDb message boards for Avatar some time ago, since Avatar was another film with Sam Worthngton. I remember it looking pretty interesting, however I'd not heard about it for some time after due to the delays. However during July, it had gotten advertised more, and I was ready to mark down August 31st as a "must see" date. However when I got a pass in an Alliance Films giveaway, I was excited.

And thankfully this movie did not disappoint. The movie comes out next week, I'd say go see it.

A remake of the 2007 Israeli flick of the same name, which I'll admit to having not seen, The Debt follows two of three secret agents who went on a mission to capture the surgeon of Birkneau, and bring him to Israel to expose him for the crimes he committed against Jewish humanity during WWII. His horrifying experiments have left thousands dead in brutal and gory ways. The gang had a plan set in place, and according to a new book written about the ordeal, the mission was completed. However, something about the mission has come back to haunt them... And futhermore, that very some 30 years later, thing has the two remaining agents fearing for what happens next in life!

I don't want to give too much away, because believe me, the nervousness and suspense I felt throughout the movie is unmatched by any other film I saw this year. Believe me, this film is insanely well written. Matthew Vaughn of Kick-Ass and X-Men First Class fame wrote the script, and boy you can tell he did. His charm and genius are all over the film, in a different fashion than the two mentioned films, but his clever writing style is there. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the turn of events is clever. There's loads of suspense throughout the film. Seriously, not one scene had me feeling calm at all. The film was high octane, ferociously suspenseful thrill ride that had me on the edge of my seat from the first frame.

The film also has a great ability to surprise people, and believe me, this movie is filled to the brim with surprise and intrigue. The film's central twist is especially shocking. Believe me, the movie definitely toys with your expectations and perception of events in pretty much every way possible. But the central twist is especially a shocker, as it completely comes out of nowhere and strikes you blindly. At the screening, you could feel everyone tense up, and especially as the film reaches its shattering climax, the suspense just got more unbearable. However, there is some good Vaughn style humour thrown in there for good measure too.

The films' performances are fantastic. Helen Mirren shines as per usual as Rachel, and her young counterpart is not only very pretty but amazingly talented too. Jesper Christensen is amazingly scary as the villain, Vogel, and he does so without any gimmicks. But the real surprise is Sam Worthington as David. Believe me, he really, truly shines here. His portrayal is very convincing, and he manages to prove to the audience that he is not just a pretty face. As well as the film's direction is slick and sharp. madden has a fantastic eye for a shot, and it shows, there are a lot of moments of visual brilliance too, and some shots even look spooky at times.

In short, The Debt is the biggest surprise of the year, and a true shiner in a dark age for cinema nowadays. If you would like to watch a movie that for once isn't 3D, for once doesn't force feed you with gimmicks, don't pass up this full tilt action thrill ride. Although I saw it for free at a screening, I would have felt like my money was put to good use if I paid to see it too. Do not miss this film!

OVERALL: 10/10

Pros: The Debt is an action packed, unbearably suspenseful film that is remarkably well written, stylishly shot and ferociously thrilling, a film not to be missed.

Cons: None I can think of...

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
A strong adult thriller with a great lead performance.
By Sean Curley
Director John Madden had a smashing back-to-back period in 1997-1998 with "Mrs. Brown" and "Shakespeare in Love", but since then he has been unable to replicate that level of success. "The Debt", a remake of a 2007 Israeli thriller of the same name, is his best film since that period, and deserves a wider audience than it is likely to find in theatres after more than a year spent in limbo due to the difficulties of its distributor. Madden and his cast and crew deliver a very solid adult-oriented Cold War thriller. Spoilers follow.

Our story takes place both in East Berlin in 1966 and Israel in 1997 (I would estimate the split to be perhaps 70/30 in the favour of 1966). It opens with a book launch celebrating the exploits of three Mossad agents in killing a Nazi war criminal: agents Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren), David Peretz (Ciaran Hinds) and Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson). We also see the mission in question, where the trio (played in 1966 by Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Martin Csokas) are tasked to abduct Dr. Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), the 'surgeon of Birkenau', from East Germany. It's not a great spoiler to say that this proves to be more difficult than originally anticipated.

There are no Jason Bourne-style moves here: Madden's depiction of special operations is very realistic, similar to the writings of John le Carre. The atmosphere is well-handled, particularly the 1966 segments, which believably depict the decayed East Berlin. The film's 1966 segments are at their strongest as a character drama, in the middle/late stretch where the three spies and their captive are confined to an apartment and forced to interact for an extended period as their options slowly seem to shrink.

The main reason to see this film is Jessica Chastain, who may be the breakout star of 2011, with no less than seven features to be released due to a backlog. In the past having this many films in a year can be dangerous (consider what 2004 did to Jude Law), but what is remarkable about Chastain's work this year is how different each performance has been so far. She was an ethereal, idealized mother in "The Tree of Life", then a goodhearted white trash housewife in "The Help"; now, in her first (and, I believe, only) lead role of the year, she plays a rookie field agent with depth and intensity. She compares favourably to Helen Mirren's portrayal of the older Rachel. The other standouts are Worthington, at last given a mainstream role where he can show his dramatic skills rather than be bland in an action film; and Christensen, who has a lot of fun as the detestable villain.

Recommended.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Chastain, Mirren's Powerful Performances Provide Audience Payback in "The Debt"
By Anthony G Pizza
Debts take time, even generations, to settle. What we owe friends and loved ones often carries more urgency than those we'd eagerly pay enemies.

In John (not football coach) Madden's taut espionage thriller "The Debt," young Mossad agents Stephan (Marton Csokas), David ( Sam Worthington), and Rachel (an electrifying Jessica Chastain) felt they owed their families, countrymen, and the world the capture and trial of Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel (an superb Jasod Christiansen), the near-demonic "Surgeon of Birkenau." Their meticulous plan falls apart, but Rachel's brave and resilient act ends Vogel's life.

At least they return with that story to their home country, becoming national heroes and inspiring Rachel's daughter's best-selling book on the event. It also became their near30-year secret until stunning news in 1997 draws out a now-retired Rachel (the always stunning Helen Mirren) as the only person to settle accounts not just for Vogel's victims but for her family. (Mirren sounds especially convincing telling her child's father, "I wanted to do something to make my daughter proud of me.") Their cohort, David, may have been owed the biggest debt: Vogel taunted him and his race years after murdering his family, and David took the guilt of the trio's secret to his grave.

"The Debt's" settings masterfully capture gray, decaying East Berlin under constant watch, tension, and cigarette smoke. Madden builds explosive action scenes from cramped, vulnerable backgrounds: the leaking apartment young Rachel cannot leave, the doctor's office where the Surgeon of Birkenau has her legs spread in stirrups. The 1997 scenes serve as character development and don't quite measure until the film's jaw-dropping conclusion. But Mirren's key scene getting needed information from an after-hours newsroom packs its share of humor and tension (sexual and otherwise).

"The Debt" is a sturdy, grown-up spy, revenge film, with Chastain and Mirren providing a femimist twist. Their thoughtful, even athletic performances settle the imagination it takes to see both actresses as one character(especially when dealing with David as lover, then martyr). In a dwindling summer film season of sequels, special effects, and over-the-top acting, "The Debt" pays the audience its best returns.