Okay, let’s be honest. When you think about your favorite Oscar categories, Best Documentary is probably not at the top of your list. But one that will tug at your heartstrings this year is The Mole Agent.
Originally titled El agente topo, the Chilean film directed by Maite Alberdi will contend for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature this weekend against Collective, Crip Camp, My Octopus Teacher and Time with My Octopus Teacher favored to win.
In the film, 83-year-old widower Sergio Chamy is hired by private investigator Romulo Aitken to become a spy within a nursing home to check in on the mother of a client. Chamy has to learn how to use an iPhone, including making FaceTime calls and WhatsApp voice messages, and stay under the radar.
What the film becomes is a wholesome story about aging and human interactions. So many of the residents within the nursing home have been abandoned by their families. Poor Marta Olivares has memory issues and often has phone conversations with her dead mother and begs to be taken home – in reality, it is the caregivers on the other end of the line.
One of the most touching moments comes when Chamy uses his connections to get resident Rubira Olivares (unrelated to Marta), who has not had a visitor in eight years, photos of her loved ones. Do not be surprised if you become a puddle of tears as she cries in Chamy’s arms.
Chamy proves that you can never be too old to start a new adventure in life. This is a new life for him, and he speaks about how it helps him through the grieving process of losing his wife.
At one point, Aitken gets frustrated at Chamy for not sending in a report while sick and Chamy says, “Forgive me, but I’m a person too. I’m a person and I respect you, so you should too.”
It speaks to the way the elder community is treated when they have lived glorious lives but are reduced to being treated like toddlers in their old age.
For many, this film will hit home. Over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been separated from our grandparents. My visits with my grandma became more like drug deals: meeting her in a parking garage with a package (groceries) and doing a hand off.
Now with vaccines, the older generation is able to reunite with their loved ones on a more permanent basis, but this film reminds you to keep them close to your heart whether you are near or far apart.
The 93rd Academy Awards premiere this Sunday, April 25 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. If you’ve watched this year’s documentaries, which one has resonated with you most? Leave a comment below or tweet us at @celebsecrets.
