User reviews

I went in to this with low expectations, for no other reason than struggling to find something that looked decent to while away a Friday night.

How pleasantly surprised I was with the way it turned out. The story is engaging and difficult to watch in equal measure. Norton is brilliant as the protagonist, while Arterton is believable as the victim who realises she's been had. Rather than thinking the other victims are just stupid for being sucked in, you realise how understandable it could be.

Credit to the director. This is a worryingly realistic portrayal and kept me engaged for the 2 hour runtime.

Interesting story about conman Robert Freegard, well played by James Norton.

Handsome and amiable, Freegard is able to convince people he is a secret agent for MI6, isolate them, take their money, and take off.

A slow-moving but disturbing psychological study, realizing this is a true story, Freegard's hold over these people is horrifying and thought-provoking. How the character of Rose lived in the street basically waiting to get into a new spy program - watching it was shattering.

All the performances were good if underplayed. At the time of the film, Freegard had been released from prison, his life sentence amended, and was still swindling people. He has since been caught again.

My biggest complaint is not with the film but the law - if indeed the definition of kidnapping includes persuasion using fraud to leave one's family, how was this overturned later?

Norton is perfect and evil, about as far from Grantchester here as you can get. Always with a fake smile.

I saw the documentary and it shows that Freegard was so much worse than in this movie adaptation. What some people can manipulate others to do is scary. And it's not always the victims faults. People get caught up in another's web and away they go!

It is completely and totally Freegard's fault. The parents of the people in his web did their best to get them out, but it was impossible. Once they were in his grips......

The movie is fine. Gives a brief outline of Freegard and a few of his followers and the incredible amount of damage he did.

Hopefully it'll help us steer clear of people like that!! Hopefully.

Fascinating movie with top cast. Very engrossing and emotive given the way likeable characters are manipulated and subject to disturbing treatment at the hands of a psychopath.

This is very topical given nudge and psychological techniques were openly used on the population recently. The ethics of this need to be closely examined and this movie helps shed light on what is possible when trust is given to a third party who abuses for their own purpose.

High recommended. 7/10.

I already have watched the documentary which was a real eye opener. Admittedly the film covers how Robert Freegard was tracked down one of his victims. The acting by Gemma was a bit wooden and I know she's better than this performance. The film lacked atmosphere so I am assuming it didn't have a big budget.

The ending was completely different from the real life ending which took place in an airport.

Overall it could have been a lot better with a bigger budget.

Going off the title, which of course is never wise, I heard agent and expected this to be some sort of action thriller. However, this was actually an interesting psychological thriller!! It was dull in parts but that is likely because I was expecting to be building up to cheap thrills and action. Instead, this was a very interesting mix of psychological profiles, how the human mind works, emotional manipulation and even a mirror on society in terms working life, student life, student debt and how the trajectory of our lives can impact our ultimate dreams and ambitions, and make us settle. This film is far from perfect and there are some parts I found unrealistic, so don't expect a classic, but it is an interesting watch.

The story is fascinating, and if interested one should watch" "Puppet Master" on Netflix for a "truer" account from (some of) the horses mouths. Of course the 2 main characters have to be played by really good looking actors, which sets it apart from reality. The character Alice is a blend of several women and the ending is a fiction. At least "Puppet Master" gives you insight into the post prison continuation of the sociopath's trail of deception and cruelty.

Yet it is entertaining enough, but it's failing is in not getting close to the minds of the victims. How do people get so bamboozled? Oh wait: Trump!

Despite the negative reviews I thought I would give this a viewing. I'm glad I did as I enjoyed it. The first half hour or so was a bit slow but once the story gets going the film really drew me in to wanting to watch it to the conclusion. I thought the acting was excellent particularly by the two leading actors. The story is based on a true life event and I think there is a lesson here for everybody, be careful who you trust!

Clearly I was expecting a different watch based on the title, but was pleasantly surprised when the story started unravelling. Newb filmmakers Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn co-wrote and co-directed, and aside from slow pacing (especially the first half), they put together a nice suspenseful film. The last half got crazy tense and wow, what an intense true story this was. James Norton and Gemma Arterton played their roles great. Had the pacing been a little faster and/or the 115 min runtime trimmed down to around 95 mins, this film would've been near perfect. If anything, just watch it for the mind-boggling story from true events.

Many reviews here repeat the complaint that the documentary (Pupper Master, currently streaming on Netflix) is much better than this movie.

I've watched both, and I can honestly say that one can't compare apples and oranges.

This movie is BASED on the true story; therefore, it has artistic license, which allows it to divert from the real case.

I found the scenario quite credible, with gradual, logical development. The cast is well chosen, and does a good job, except the woman playing the American agent, who obviously can't act.

It's frustrating to find out that a despicable, dangerous con man who is sentenced to life in prison, gets out of jail 4 years later.

There's more than one lesson to learn from this movie.

This is a interestimg story reasonably well told but loses much of its credibility as a true story due to the director's obrsdion with including the Gemma Atherton character in more or less every single scene. Don't want to resort to spoiler but let's just say that it is farcical that she is heavily involved in the last 30 minutes of the film. Legally this could never happen. By then there are plot holes you could drive a bus through. Norton is good and Atherton is okay but the director is dire. Pity. Could have been great in different hands.

It's 1993. MI5 is recruiting freelancers in the fight against the IRA. Robert Freegard (James Norton) recruits three naive young people for secret missions. It's 9 years later. Successful high-powered lawyer Alice Archer (Gemma Arterton) gets into a whirlwind romance with a car salesman. When her search for his identity comes up empty, he reveals that he is actually an MI5 agent named Robert Freegard.

The true story is more chaotic, more unreal, and possibly more compelling. Nevertheless, this movie does get interesting after stealing the car lease money. I wanted her to team up with the private investigator. The movie ends up pairing her up with the copper. That's fine. I do go back to the beginning. It may be more advantageous to lose the 1993 part. In that way, the audience can follow the journey along with Alice. The reveal can shock us as much as Alice. On the other hand, it's more clearer to start in 1993. All in all, the story is very compelling.

I was surprised after reading some of the reviews criticising this movie.

The dialogue is very subtle and succinct. Norton is very charming and convincing as the con man.

Its very cleverly done and i imagine there's a few con men out there that may watch this and wish the entire movie away because many probably arent as clever as this.

Arterton delivers a performance as we've come to expect and between them both they provide us with an intriguing and believable plot.

Whether it is completely accurate to the actual story i cannot speak to because I'd not heard of it until today, but if the real life conman was as convincing as Norton's portayal, I fear it would take quite the skeptic to see the truth as his character expertly counters almost all suspicion when it arises.

Aside from some woody acting by GA, and some issues with atmosphere, that's where my alignment with the more critical reviews ends

The story is an incredible one. Had I realised there was also a docuseries, I'd likely have watched that first, though I'm not sure one would adversely impact on the other

This movie works well at covering a long period of deceit, manipulation and fraud, though I feel it would have been better if more emphasis was placed on exploring the psychology behind Freegard's actions. Maybe the docuseries manages that

An enjoyable watch, that builds through the first half, and unfolds with tension and pace in the second.

Most of the reviews are very negative about this film . Don't see why I was hooked from the first , the fact this is based on truth and after seeing it I can faintly remember it .

The story here is far worse than anyone could ever imagine and that the conman could be so unscrupulous.

I felt the story kept you watching from the first minute hoping for a good end . I felt it was well put together and did exactly what we hoped .

Well worth the watch.

I found the film kind of slow with out much plot. Maybe they didn't know enough of the original crimes to fill in the blanks. Acting was good as was production.

A really really really good spy movie. Great actors, good script, capable direction, good overall story. Builds fairly slowly, but not boringly. Holds your interest, makes you want to know what happens next. I almost didn't watch it for the being below 7 stars, but upon watching it's easy to see it really sits somewhere between 8 and 10 stars depending on your taste. It's always refreshing to see a smart espionage film. This is what the Brits are best at, when they get it right. Reminds me a bit of the excellent Brit series Bodyguard. Bodyguard was probably more intense and masculine, but still very similar in quality. I loved it! I gradually warmed to the flawed characters as they warmed to each other. If you like smart spy movies, feel free to ignore the reviews of the dimwitted amongst us.

One of those true story accounts that stupidly messes with facts and adds a few silly scenes (mostly towards end) that are mis-judged and a bit naff. Shame.

Brit film, starring james norton as robert freeland, who posed as a secret british agent for years. In the process, he uprooted lives, borrowed money, stole money, told so many lies. Scamming mostly women, he convinced them they needed to borrow money from their family and friends. And he got away with it for a long time. Until alice (gemm arterton) caught on to him, and was determined to bring him down. So she works with the REAL mi 5, and together, they track down the other women who have been worked over by freeland. It's good. Not great, but good. Based on a true-ish story. For more information, check out the wikipedia entries on this film, and robert freeland.currently showing on kanopy streaming channel.

This movie is horrible.

The only thing it achieves is making fun of the victims. They didn't show the manipulation of this con artist in a clever way.

Don't waste your time , watch the documentary it is much better.

Rogue Agent

A very well done psychological thriller, there really was some very unexpected twists and turns. I was lured in and believed the whole thing, which I suppose was the intention of the whole movie.

James Norton was chillingly believable and his victims could have been you and me.

Gemma Arterton gave her all and we were cheering for her all the way. You ask yourself are people really that gullible and the answer is I'm afraid they are, mainly because you want to believe people in need.

Overall this is a firm 7 outta 10, chilling watchable but I never want to see or think about this ever again as it was most unsettling.