Rogue Agent (2022)
Rogue Agent is a 2022 British mystery drama thriller film directed by Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn from a screenplay the pair co-wrote with Michael Bronner, based on the article "Chasing Agent Freegard" by Michael Bronner. James Norton portrays Robert Hendy-Freegard, a conman who tricked and convinced several people that he was an MI5 agent. Gemma Arterton also stars as the person who brought him down, with additional cast members including Shazad Latif, Marisa Abela, Edwina Findley and Julian Barratt.
Rogue Agent (2022)
Directed by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, the movie is based on the true story of the British con-artist Robert Hendy-Freegard who masqueraded as an MI5 agent while working as a barman and car salesman.
The TRUE, extraordinary and chilling story of career conman Robert Freegard who masqueraded as an MI5 agent and fooled people into going into hiding, and the woman who fell for him, and then brought him down.
Rogue Agent has certainly caught the imagination of the viewers on Netflix, but not quite so much here on LB. 1.5K views seems scant reward for a film that has an intelligent script, several terrific performances, and a compelling story that beggars belief. The fact that it is based on a real life conman who masqueraded as an MI5 agent in order to control and coerce several women, and one young male student into believing their lives were in danger, is bonkers enough, but the way this plot plays out is utterly incredible.
The private investigator cannot find any trace of Robert, which worries Alice in the process. When she confronts Robert about this discovery, he informs her his real name is Robert Freegard and he is an undercover agent working for MI5.
The story follows Robert Freegard (James Norton), a conman and imposter. Pretending to be an MI5 agent chasing after the IRA, he kidnaps, enslaves, swindles, and abuses numerous victims physically and mentally. The film offers a brief summation of his tactics and his victims, but does not delve into a narrative that deconstructs the mind of a cruel man. The focus shifts to one of his later victims and how she turns things around by conning the con man.
Robert is incredibly handsome, so all the considerable red flags are masked by his charm and smile. The film opens with a segment narrated by the immensely talented Gemma Arterton, who explains the main tenants of how a spy deceives others, all while Robert ingratiates himself with a group of university students and convinces them he is an MI5 spy. Using the tactics of a rakish agent who would typically be beloved, he perverts the notion by abusing his power, preying on unsuspecting people and whisking them away from their loved ones and lives. Nine years later, he meets his match in Alice Archer (Arterton).
Robert Freegard is a con artist that has been making people go into hiding, after claiming to be an MI5 agent. He has been doing this for years, having many people manipulated into following his orders. Now, living in London, he can remain hidden in plain sight, meeting lawyer Alice.
Freegard is somebody you have probably heard of before as he was the subject of the Netflix documentary The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman. The doc highlighted his crimes and manipulation of others and made for an interesting but rather uncomfortable watch. In Rogue Agent, Freegard is played by James Norton, an actor who has both the looks and the charm to be a spy (the next Jame Bond, anyone?) so his casting as the false agent is inspired.
Rogue Agent (2022) depicts the chilling true story of career conman Robert Freegard, who masqueraded as an MI5 agent in order to extort and kidnap countless victims. When one woman falls for his charms however, she becomes the only person capable of finally bringing him down.
Rogue Agent is based loosely on the true story of Robert Freegard. Freegard was a British conman who bilked women out of their money by pretending to be an MI5 agent. There are some minor spoilers ahead.
Parents need to know that Rogue Agent is a British thriller -- based on the real-life case of con artist Robert Freegard (James Norton) -- with some strong language. The movie revolves around Freegard's deception and criminal activities. His love interest, Alice Archer (Gemma Arterton), is the closest the movie has to a role model: suspicious of Robert's claim to be a secret agent, her intelligence and diligence slowly begin to uncover the truth about him. There is no violence shown on-screen, but there are references to terror attacks and deaths. Characters are also left traumatized as a result of Freegard's lies and deception. This includes Freegard starting sexual relationships with them. There is a brief sex scene, but there's no explicit nudity, with just Freegard's bare back shown. There are multiple uses of "f--k" and "s--t," as well as "pr--k," "bitch," and "bastard." Materialism features in that Freegard's job as a luxury car salesmen means that he entertains wealthy clients and uses his access to vehicles to impress his targets. There is some drinking, with reference to being hungover. Characters also smoke cigarettes and cigars in indoor public spaces.
Based on the article Chasing Agent Freegard by Michael Bronner, the film is directed by Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn and the three of them have presented a fictionalised version of these true-life events. Not being familiar with the story, this tale of a conman convincing an insane number of people that he was an MI5 agent proves really quite gripping.
But Freegard is not what he seems. In what is presented as a shock reveal but was the basis of the entire publicity push behind this film, it turns out that Freegard is a conman. Not even the titular rogue agent, in fact, just a guy who likes to play at dressing up, particularly if a pretty woman is part of the fantasy.
His career takes a turn when he deals with Sarah on whom he uses his charm to bilk her out of the $80,000 by manipulating her to have her parents transfer the money to her, then arranging with his latest victim to take control of the money himself. But he failed to learn one lesson. Though he gets Alice to fall in love with him as a ploy to get at her money, he overreaches as Alice gets an agent to work with her, combing through a list of his many phone calls, to locate him and lead to his arrest.
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack from the IFC Films thriller film Rogue Agent (2022). The original score music is composed by Hannah Peel (The Midwich Cuckoos, Game of Thrones: The Last Watch).
The story typically involved Freegard posing as an MI5 agent. As part of his con, he persuaded victims that they had to go through agent training, or flee mysterious enemies. Some were talked into handing over their inheritance or life savings. 041b061a72