It is only because of Awards Season nominations that I found out about this Chilean documentary film, I read more about it and it did sound interesting. Basically, a newspaper article is placed to find an elderly person, aged between 80-90, with some understanding and experience of using technology. One by one, the applicants are interviewed about their use of technology and other factors, as one of them is to be recruited by a private investigator in Chile. The investigator selects octogenarian Sergio Chamy to work as a mole at a retirement home. He is taught how to use spy cameras and a smartphone to report any significant findings to the investigator. His mission is to go undercover in the nursing home to investigate suspicions, from a client, of caretakers abusing the residents. Chamy settles into the home, and the camera crew are allowed in, under the pretence that they are documenting the experiences for Chamy and other residents. Chamy talks and gets to know many of the residents, especially the women, who fall in love with his charm. He reports everything he sees and hears to the private investigator, which for some time is just menial details. He eventually finds the female resident who has been specifically targeted for questioning and uses his hidden camera technology to document anything suspicious. In the end, after his stay at the home, no evidence of mistreatment or abuse is found. But this film serves much more as an insight into the desperate loneliness and seclusion the older generation have succumbed to, with many abandoned by their families. It is sobering and poignant, the spy gadgetry is kind of cool, and Chamy is a likeable character. I was hoping for perhaps something more gripping and some kind of big twist or turn by the conclusion, but it is an interesting enough documentary. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Worth watching!
Review of The Mole Agent
