FALSE identity

Robert Downey Jr. plays multiple characters in a double-agent thriller set around the Vietnam War

- CAREN CLARK, ALISON SLADE

THRILLER

The Sympathizer

Holiday Monday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic & Sky Showcase (box set, Sky Box Sets & NOW)

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s award-winning novel The Sympathizer, which follows the fortunes of a troubled spy in the dying days of the Vietnam War, is being brought to life in Sky Atlantic’s seven-part darkly comic thriller.

The series centres on the half-Vietnamese, half-French Captain (Hoa Xuande), a shrewd young assistant to the General (Toan Le), the South Vietnamese commander of the secret police, who is allied with America.

In reality, however, the Captain is a double agent passing information to the communist Viet Cong.

‘The story is about survival and the nature of being a spy,’ says Australia-born Xuande, whose credits include Last King of the Cross. ‘The Captain faces the struggle of war and is trying to save his people, find the best outcome for those that he cares about, and not rock the boat.’