User reviews

This succeeds in highlighting the important (and often under-looked) true story of female spies in WWII. I was already familiar with Vera Atkins and Virginia Hall and it was nice to see their stories put to film. It was great learning the heroic story of Noor Inayat Khan too. "A Call To Spy" is the kind of film that gets you researching the true events after. More people should know about these women.

As a film itself, it definitely had a TV-movie vibe. The script was rather woeful at times and occasionally the acting came across quite wooden. It still did enough to tell the stories though, while keeping my interest. I would have thought a film depicting the heroic actions of spies in WWII would have more tension and better pacing though.

It felt a bit too long at times, and during the first 20 minutes, I wrestled whether to abandon it entirely. I felt the story of these women deserved my time though, so I persisted and I'm mostly glad I did.

Sarah Megan Thomas delivered a particularly good performance as Virginia Hall. You could easily tell she was passionate about this film and the story of these women. Stana Katic had great chemistry with her too.

A few months ago I watched the reality docuseries "Churchill's Secret Agents: The New Recruits", which depicted the SOE in WWII. I highly recommend watching that series before watching this, as it gave a fantastic education and background to the roles of these brave men and women. As a movie? "A Call To Spy" is rather lacklustre and has its share of shortcomings. As a story? Everyone should know about it.

Good to see the role of women as spies in WWII highlighted here. Am somewhat surprised by the very high ratings given here. It was a good movie but not one you'll be thinking about greatly once the credits have rolled. Possibly this is because the film lacks a truly persistent sense of danger. One would normally expect to encounter several 'on the edge of the seat' scenarios in a film about spies and Nazis and the notorious Klaus Barbie. But this was something I barely experienced throughout. The overall acting was always understated and little more than adequate. It was not bad nor was it terrific. Despite some good production values the lack of intensity is the most obvious deficiency made even more apparent when considering the subject matter. The 7 stars is a generous assessment.

This movie, "A Call To Spy", is inspired by real events and real allied spies in World War Two. It was the early 1940s, the German Nazi threat was nearing its height, the allies needed to do something bold and surprising. Churchill requested a secret army of attractive female spies be created to conduct sabotage and build resistance in occupied France.

This is the story of those spies and how they were trained, how they went about their missions. The movie is very authentic looking and the mood is just right. The story focuses on Virginia Hall who was a real spy and whom the Nazis considered the most dangerous of all Allied spies. Most of the actors are people I have never heard of which I believe adds to the impact, not being distracted by an actor's fame or prior roles.

Good movie, a nice addition to the WW2 stories. My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Another puzzle under all the second war movies that completes the resistance machinery agains the German Gestapo.

Some British women took important functions to spy out the Nazis in France. It is well done with atmosphere and costumes. If you are Interested in this genre check it out. It was never boring and the actors played their roles very good. Solid 6/10.

Enjoyable, based on a true story, film about some amazingly brave and little known WWII heroes...women spies. The acting, although not Oscar worthy, was decent by most. The pace was a bit slow and the editing could have been better, which would have upped the tension a bit, but the film was interesting, informative, and entertaining. (no language or nudity) This underrated, lesser known film held our attention throughout and is worth the watch, IMHO! 6.5 stars - June 2021.

The main reason for seeing 'A Call to Spy' was the subject matter, a powerful one made up of the true stories of three inspirational but somewhat overlooked women who worked as spies in the second world war. Being someone who has a thing for promising concepts and bold subject matters. Also like historical dramas, films inspired by or based on true stories and anything centered around spies also intrigues. Not to mention the cast.

'A Call to Spy' was a solid and laudable effort in making the women and their stories known in cinematic terms. It doesn't quite succeed in every area and the women's stories were more powerful than the one that is presented here, but there was also a lot to like about it and it was hard to not admire its good intentions. There was a great film somewhere in 'A Call to Spy', a great one that doesn't quite materialise but has elements of greatness in individual components, but to me it was not a waste of potential.

Like has been said above, 'A Call to Spy' has a lot of good. The best thing about it is the acting, the standout being the committed, determined and heartfelt performance from Sarah Megan Thomas. Stana Katic is a forceful presence too and the chemistry between the two is done with a lot of sincerity and respect. Linus Roache and Radhika Apte bring a lot of dignity to their roles. The rest of the cast are fine, with the enemy being portrayed as genuinely sinister and the film doesn't shy away from showing the horrors of what they did.

It is a good looking film, handsomely and atmospherically shot with a good eye for period detail that doesn't look too clean, the French scenes looking suitably uncompromising. The music has a nice mix of emotions and isn't overused or over-emphasised. The film is directed with a lot of committment and heart, it is easy to tell that the subject meant a lot to the director and all involved. The scripting on the whole is thoughtful and well intended, while the story has enough tension and poignancy (though there could have been more of the former).

Didn't think the storytelling or the film were perfectly executed though. There are too many cliched supporting characters and most of them are given too much short shrift. Khan is rather underdeveloped which is a far cry from the meaty character writing of Hall and Atkins and her fate was actually even more harrowing than presented in the film.

Some of the French dialogue is stilted and there are lulls in pacing where the action is a little too over-deliberate and relies too much on talk. Particularly early on.

Overall, solid effort. 7/10.

Such a great story and very well told. Main characters have an strong background. The movie is interesting and with moving scenes.

Usually I enjoy films about agents in occupied France and the two female ones struck a chord with me - I'd read the story of Noor Inayat Khan back in the 1950s. And Vera Atkins and Colonel Buckmaster were intriguing characters.

But ACTS fell very flat and I gave up on it halfway through. As portrayed, all the main characters were colourless and the only one of the cast to make any impression on me was the gendarme questioning Virginia in the cafe!

I was looking forward to watch this movie. The story based on true events looked like something really interesting and informative, clearly a story with the potential to make a good movie. But the truth is that they failed to do that, the result is just a slow repetitive story, without any suspense, certainly not with the material they had for this story. The acting wasn't bad but the the plot was. To me it's a missed opportunity to make a good movie about a story that was worth to be told.

How could everyone rate this so little? The actors were amazing, the filming, the script: it was wonderful! Those people gave their lives! More than any of these bad reviewer could give. I loved this movie. It was beautiful! Watch this and don't let the low rating turn you away.

I was interested in this after reading about Nancy Wake, another WW2 spy.

Having lived through that period in London, whoever was responsible for costumes did no real research. No one in England or France had the new outfits worn by everybody. The actual SOE offices were sparse with minimum furniture and none of the interior design luxury with oil paintings and side lights of an interior design magazine. The attempts to have actors appear to speak French was pathetic. Phone accents with too many 'Bon Chance.' As for the doctor taking someone to lunch, both agents, in occupied France was ludicrous, with wine and chocolates included. The remarkably brave Noor Inayat Khan Died an even worse death in Dachau than conveyed in the movie. And for the truly amazing actual story of Virginia Hall. Do read it up. Extraordinary. Derek

Loved the three female leads - each brought a lot of texture and depth to the screen. Also, so grateful to know about these amazing women in WWII! They should be common knowledge - so thank you to the filmmakers for educating us in an entertaining way!! Great movie!!!

The British have created a group of female spies, under the request of Churchill, to conduct sabotage and who are passionate for their country and eager not to let the evil NAZI regime succeed. Many of these women are out in the field as well as sending coded messages from headquarters. The movie follows one female spy as she is spying out in the field and doesn't let her wooden leg slow her down and she becomes a notable target of the enemy. People in her sphere are routinely threatened by the Nazis as they are focused on capturing her but they refuse to give up any information about her. How much disruption will she be able to create and for how long? Overall, this was well-acted with quality production sets but left me wanting a bit more tension. It was nice to see another story on how the woman were able to contribute during the war.

I love Stana Katic but she can't make this film about the brave female spy's of the SOE better than "Female Agents" which has the near identical plot. Here, the main agent Sarah Thomas is heroic beyond words But in "Female Agents" Sophie Marceau is just outstanding in her role as the leader of a team dropped into France. I thought "Female Agent's" was much grittier, more suspenseful, and satisfying.

Love a true war story film but the real only mistake I could find was a spelling mistake In the UK we spell Authorised with an S not a Z Great acting from all it has to be said .

The storyline was interesting but not exploited enough to make it entertaining. Apart from Linus Roache who is English, all the other main actors had strained and unauthentic English accents that distracted from what was going on. The locations for all of the scenes set in the U.K. were completely unrecognisable and just looked like American actors thinking they were being English in the 1940s on an obvious American film set. A mix of good actors but not in a decent film.

I was a bit skeptical about Stana Katic being cast in a war film, but I have to say she does a great job in this movie. This is a strong female movie with good casting and very good acting. I personally enjoy historic films and I liked this one.

Well filmed and solid acting. Plot and dialogues were on the weaker side. Too bad because this was a great subject. I say it's worth a rent if you need something to watch.

Just Brilliant. Very enjoyable. Heroes everyone. Great story of true events. Well made film.

Its a female take on the female operational duties made under the 2 nd world war. its a film about the start and excecution of female operative spies on the allied side, where some of them in cooperation with the resistance organisations had real great importance on the outcome of the war in france.

its a very slow plot, where the actors really speaks slow to make the playtime longer, and where the lack of typical warfare operations and manouvers are absent, i think the reason is to reach out to the female part of the audiences, less violence more viewers, but thats my guessing. its also a lack of information on where things happen, some dates and places are released, but overall what and where we are, are almost absent

what is really well done, are the production design and the very well done location settings to the era were in. also some of the acting are up to date, but none stands out as brilliant. its merely casted with b and c actors, some we've seen in worn out tv series but not many of them. also the direction of extras on the outdoor sets are blemish and not believable, take some rewinds and youll see for yourself.

but its a warhistoric feature film( made on a rigid budget, that tells a story not well known to the public) that everyone should see and learn from. its not extravagant but a recommendable watch thinks the grumpy old man.

This film is about the actions of three women involved as spies for the British against the Nazis during world war II. What these women did is extraordinary, and it is absolutely right that we commemorate them, but this film doesn't quite do them justice.

The film is written and produced by Sarah Megan Thomas, who also plays the lead, Virginia Hall. Virginia trained as a spy and served behind enemy lines in France despite having a wooden leg. Radhika Apte plays Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim of Indian descent, who also spied for Britain in France. Stana Katic plays Vera Atkins - the handler working for the Special Operations Executive responsible for female spies.

I was a little familiar with Khan's story as she featured in an episode of Doctor Who, but I can see why Thomas was attracted to telling the story of these otherwise largely forgotten women who risked everything at a time when women were not treated with the same respect as men. At a time when women were not considered able for field work, they led from the front and showed they had the grit and courage to do it well.

Unfortunately, the script simply tries to do too much. Any one of these women would be a worthy subject for a movie but trying to tell all three of their stories at once means none of them get the screen time they deserve. Their stories and their arcs are truncated in a way that is distracting and left me wishing I could see what was going on in between the moments we saw of each of them.

Khan's story is particularly hurt by this. At one point she seems to simply be wandering aimlessly around Paris until she bumps into someone. Surely there was more method to her brand of madness than this?

(On a terribly minor note, it really irks me in a movie when the General or the CEO or the President or whatever appears to have nothing to do but fret and talk about the relatively minor character who is the movies subject. Here, apparently all the Special Operations Executive top brass have to do with their days is talk about Hall and Khan. Come on! At least give them a line where we see they do have other duties!) (Rant over.)

The film looks good. I don't know what the budget was but imagining it was relatively small, Kim Jennings and Vanessa Porter have done a great job of stretching the money to ensure the period details looks right in production design and costumes respectively.

Lydia Dean Pilcher directs competently and efficiently, and lands the emotional beats when she needs to.

I hate to judge the film for what it isn't but I cannot help thinking the material here would have made for a wonderful mini-series, but is simply too much for a films smaller attention real estate.

The kind of Sunday afternoon fare you'd be perfectly happy watching with the parents one rainy Sunday, or perhaps showing to your pre-teen daughter to show her girls have kicked ass in history too.