ONE OF THE MOST important things art—especially narrative art—can do is inspire us to show empathy for others by making us see the world through someone else’s eyes. Stories of kindness and compassion are stories of the gospel in action. Right now, in a time of extreme division, conflict, and isolation, we need stories that remind us what that looks and feels like, and the ways in which we can show it to others.
Chilean filmmaker Maite Alberdi’s documentary The Mole Agent is a heartwarming testament to this type of kindness. Alberdi’s film follows 83-year-old Sergio, hired by a private detective to go undercover at a nursing home and report on the treatment of its residents. Sergio’s loving interactions with everyone he meets and Alberdi’s observational filmmaking together provide an example of love through serving others.
Initially hired to check up on a client’s mother, Sergio quickly discovers that there’s nothing dastardly about the San Francisco Nursing Home. Its residents, however, are lonely, and have been largely abandoned by their families. Even the woman he’s been sent to check on, Sonia, seems fine, but is neglected by her daughter, who’d rather hire a detective to check on her mother than pay her a visit.
Sergio starts the film as an unlikely spy (complete with a secret camera embedded in his eyeglasses). However, as he observes the residents’ need for connection and love, he performs a kind of ministry by befriending them. Sergio becomes close with Marta, a grumpy woman with no family. He helps Rubira, a woman with memory problems whose family never visits her, by obtaining pictures of her children to help her recall their names. Alberdi frequently shows Sergio just sitting quietly with other residents, recognizing the power that a reassuring presence can bring to someone who’s lonely or scared.
The Mole Agent begins as a quirky spy story but evolves into a touching portrait of Christlike kindness. What makes it so affecting is that the actions it shows, and the way Sergio’s kindness is returned, couldn’t be easier to replicate, even in a time defined by physical distance. Alberdi’s film is refreshingly uncomplicated in its call to compassion. All we need to do, she reminds us, is reach out.
Abby Olcese is a freelance film critic and writer based in Missouri. You can find her on Twitter @abbyolcese.
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