The Sympathizer (HBO, spring)
Stars: Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr., Sandra Oh, Ky Duyen, Fred Nguyen Khan, Tuan Le, Duy Nguyễn
Make way for (hopefully) one of 2024’s most intriguing new spy dramas, The Sympathizer, based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It’s adapted for TV by Oldboy’s Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar. Hoa Xuande plays the Captain, a North Vietnamese plant in the South Vietnamese army who is forced to flee to America. Once there the Captain continues sleuthing for the Viet Cong, but it becomes difficult as he bonds with the other refugees around him. Bonus: Robert Downey Jr. portrays the antagonist, continually changing his looks with impressive disguises. [Saloni Gajjar]
