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Apple_TV_Liaison_key_art.jpg

Apple TV+'s 'Liaison' Gets Eva Green and Vincent Cassel Wrapped Up in Love and Spy Games

By Sara Clements | Film | February 24, 2023 |

By Sara Clements | Film | February 24, 2023 |


Apple_TV_Liaison_key_art.jpg

Apple TV+ has a winner with its first English-French production. Starring Vincent Cassel and Eva Green, Liaison is a high-stakes thriller full of espionage and political intrigue with a deft script by Virginie Brac and assured direction from 24’s Stephen Hopkins. The six-episode series, spanning multiple countries and languages, not only presents the terrifying reality of cyber terrorism and corruption but adds layers in the form of a love story. Exploring how one’s past threatens to destroy one’s future, Liaison will be hard to turn away from and its absorbing intensity and drama will make you wish you could binge it.

The world of Liaison is an all-too-familiar, terrifying reality and everyone has dirty hands. The filth is caked, especially in government. Whether it’s seedy figures acting on their own interests or criminals with deep pockets calling the shots, it’s clear those who serve aren’t out to protect. Corps ignoring the warning signs before an impending disaster isn’t news and doesn’t have a limit to national security. The weaknesses of a post-Brexit UK are made evident in Liaison when the cybersecurity of the nation is threatened. However, despite the dangers to infrastructure and civilian lives, those in charge brush it off as nothing more than someone bored in their basement. But, of course, it’s much bigger. One hack lights the fire of many others and the key to figuring out what’s going on are two Syrian cousins.

While wiping the Assad regime’s police computers in Damascus, Samir (Aziz Dyab) and Walid (Marco Horanieh) discover something much worse and now hold the key to uncovering who is behind the attacks that are bringing Britain to its knees. Everyone wants of piece of the hackers, whether it’s the French DGSE (Directorate-General for External Security) or Britain’s Home Office. However, a mercenary working for a private firm is put to the task of getting to the Syrians first. The success of Gabriel (Vincent Cassel)’s mission to get the cousins on French soil to be granted political asylum proves difficult, and multiple setbacks lead him to London - and an old flame.

Enter Alison (Eva Green), a Home Office agent looking into the hacks under her security minister boss, Richard (Peter Mullan). Together they make an ideal cop show-type partnership. A veteran boss who’s seen it all and is tired of it all versus a younger partner who is ambitious, clever, and isn’t to be underestimated. Her successful career balances a home life with ups and downs. She’s in a happy relationship with her human rights lawyer beau, Albert (Daniel Francis), but has yet to win over his daughter. The downs squash the ups in that part of her life when the case of the hacks hits too close for comfort. It sees Alison and her family in terrifying situations that are only made worse with Gabriel’s re-introduction into her life. Their worlds colliding brings complications, as their personal history threatens to derail the life that Alison has built. She gets tangled in a deeper web of deceit and espionage than she could have imagined, and her complicated history of betrayal and romance with Gabriel risks the knife between them wedging itself deeper and deeper into their backs (as well as their hearts) as secrets reveal themselves and choices are made that put the success of the mission into question.

The main draw of the show is its leads. Not only do Cassel and Green deliver excellent performances, but Brac’s writing of their characters and relationship is engrossing to dive into. As the series goes on, you not only become invested in the show’s politics and espionage but in this love story. Their reunion, staring at each other through a rain-washed window, not only produces stunning cinematography but symbolizes their history and the pain they have been been trying to wash away. Their refusal to act on their feelings is a smoldering will-they-won’t-they waiting game. They are both put to the test, especially Alison, as confronting the past she has been running away from causes her to unravel. More attention is paid to Alison’s character, but that isn’t a bad thing. The mystery that comes with being a spy works for Cassel’s rugged and suave Gabriel, whose hard exterior does eventually soften. Green carries Alison with coolness, which Cassel’s role ultimately breaks. Green masterfully embodies a character who crumbles under the weight of a past that haunts her. Overcome by emotion, guilt, and self-hatred, the actor delivers an affecting character evolution. Cassel and Green are as strong together as they are apart. Their natural chemistry allows them to bounce off each other, butting heads at one moment and laughing the next, but still simmering with feelings left unsaid.

Liaison’s story takes time to unfold, but the first episode manages to hook the audience quickly. Sweeping drone shots, tension-filled score, explosive action, and character-driven drama at its center - it’s got it all. The stakes are sky-high at every turn and its nonstop intensity makes this an enthralling week-to-week thriller, staying unpredictable even in its last minutes.

Liaison premieres February 24, 2023 on Apple TV+.