The Sympathizer brings infinite Robert Downeys Jr. to the Vietnam War

Spy stories have all the ingredients needed for excellent television: there’s suspense, double-crossing, and the potential for lots and lots of wigs. In the sympathizer, most are worn by Robert Downey, Jr.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The sympathizer looks like our next big spy obsession. A groundbreaking adaptation of an acclaimed Vietnamese work, it marks Park Chan-wook’s return to television five years after his outstanding 2018 AMC miniseries. The Little Drummer Girl. (And a year after releasing one of the best movies of 2022, Decide to leave.)

Following the dizzying source material – which jumps merrily from genre to genre with a dizzyingly recursive story about an anonymous North Vietnamese spy embedded in the South Vietnamese military, who emigrates to the United States for a farcical film production, among other things – the trailer for The sympathizer is wonderfully confusing.

Starring Hoa Xuande (dubbed “The Captain”), the trailer gives us a glimpse of The Captain’s Catch-22like journey in espionage, where he seems to encounter multiple characters, all played by Robert Downey, Jr. around the Vietnam War.

From the images shown, The sympathizer looks to be both a worthy adaptation of a rich novel and another exhibition for Park Chan-wook’s formidable spy-thriller chops.

The sympathizer will premiere live on HBO and on Max streaming in 2024.