Heartland: ‘A Call to Spy’ ★★★★½

By Bob Bloom

Heroism has no gender, nor is it simply confined to the battlefield.

People can use brains and wit as weapons as easily as guns to defeat an enemy.

Bravery can be found in unexpected places, as aptly demonstrated in “A Call to Spy,” a historical drama about women dropped behind German lines into France during World War II to help set up resistance networks and disrupt the enemy however possible.

“A Call to Spy” was produced and written by Sarah Megan Thomas, who also stars as Virginia Hill, an American woman who, rejected for diplomatic posts by her own country because she has a wooden leg, is recruited by Britain’s Special Operation Executive branch.

The movie, directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher, is based on true events. The collaboration between Thomas and Pilcher has created a deft and compelling wartime drama that is suspenseful and pertinent to the times we now live in.

The movie’s three major female characters — Thomas’ Hill, Stana Katic’s Vera Atkin, the “unofficial” female organizer of the SOE’s plan to recruit women, and Radhika Apte as Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim pacifist and telegrapher recruited into the program because of her skills as a wireless operator — are definitely not your traditional protagonists.

Atkin is viewed with some suspicion because she is a Jewish refugee, Hill’s abilities are doubted because of her “disability” and Khan’s nonviolent beliefs are a concern to those at the top.

Despite it all, the women ignore their resentment, overcome the skepticism of their male superiors and — as the movie demonstrates — do their jobs with fortitude, cunning and conviction.

Hill uses disguises, guile and instinct to not only recruit French citizens to surreptitiously battle the Nazis but helps plan and participates in sabotage operations — even when her abilities are doubted by her own operatives.

Hill’s resourcefulness and intelligence allow her to survive even while being hunted by the Gestapo.

Atkin’s fight is closer to home. She must do her job of recruiting and training women for overseas missions, while dealing with the bigotry of the upper-class British military and intelligence establishment.

Khan uses her stealth and speed as a telegrapher to continue updating London on the situation in France, as she moves from place to place to escape detection.

“A Call to Spy” runs 123 minutes, but Pilcher keeps a quickened pace. As the activities of the resistance grow with the aid of Hill and Khan, the net slowly begins to close around them as the Nazis use collaborators and terror tactics in attempts to capture them.

Thomas and Pilcher have created a cinematic tribute to unsung heroes who helped defeat fascism not just by transmitting information but by inspiring others to fight from within and embrace hope. The movie opens Friday and also will be available through digital download and video-on-demand platforms.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

A CALL TO SPY 4½ stars out of 5 (PG-13), violence, disturbing images, language, smoking