Yes, there will be subtitles but it’s completely worth the eye strain. Irene Escolar as Amelia Garayoa, image courtesy of IMDb

Based on the novel Tell Me Who I Am (Dime Quién Soy) by best-selling author Julia Navarro, Dime Quién Soy: Mistress Of War follows Spanish socialite Amelia Garayoa (played by Irene Escolar ) as she evolves from kept housewife and new mother to freedom fighter, mistress, spy, and killer.

That is one hell of a resume rewrite.

The movie is set in the mid 1930’s as WWII was ramping up and the economies and governments of the European nations were in a downward spiral. To save her family’s business from the ravages of political instability Amelia marries a wealthy family friend who had already offered his assistance but was equally happy with getting a beautiful and charming wife out of the deal. Financial stability was a wonderful thing but Emily had a heart for the less fortunate and after being recruited as a freedom fighter for the Communist Party movement by a charming Frenchman named Pierre Comte (played by Oriol Pla) Emily decides to leave everything behind, including her infant son, to help further the communist party agenda in Buenos Ares and create a new life with Pierre. Pierre isn’t of course what he appears to be, and neither is their relationship. In a very short time, Emily finds out exactly why you don’t run off with mysterious, charming strangers who keep meeting with Russian operatives in weird places. The reason they were in Buenos Ares was for the Party, but Pierre wasn’t French he was Russian, their relationship just wasn’t, Amelia was intentionally being used as a blind spy to make things look legit to the authorities and the cute bookstore they bought as a means of income was actually a communist front. Oh and they also discovered that Pierre’s Russian boss had turned traitor and the Russians had been watching them at the book store night and day and will eventually try to murder them just in case they were traitors too. But no pressure.

Oriol Pla as Pierre Comte (Left) and Oleg Kricunova as Kremlin comrade Krisov. Photo courtesy of Peacock.

Betrayed and heartbroken and stuck in another country with a man she knows less about than before they arrived, Amelia ends up befriending a German soldier by the name of Max von Schumann (played by Pierre Kiwitt ) who is a Dr in the German Army and although engaged to a Countess, is completely smitten with Amelia. Before things go too far Max is called back to Berlin to train troops giving Amelia and Pierre a chance to at least become friends since they are in this together. Soon both Pierre and Amelia are called to Moscow to meet the Communist Party leaders for an update on Buenos Ares and to chat about Krisov, Pierre’s former boss. Things go way south after the meeting and Pierre finds himself in a Russian prison camp for treason, leaving Amelia alone with his family to figure out where he disappeared to and why. She is eventually reunited with one of Pierre’s former colleagues who helps her escape Russia after finding out the fate of Pierre and who becomes the means by which she enlists as a spy for British Intelligence. From there she becomes a mistress to a German officer to gain access to German Military info on the Russian Front, finds herself captured by German soldiers for assisting the Jewish Resistance in smuggling medicines, vaccines, and food to the starving and sick in the ghettos of Warsaw, tortured and nearly executed for it. Once she recovered from her time in prison, she is sent on several other missions by British Intel, one that nearly gets herself and the man she loves killed. After recovering from that harrowing experience it was back to Berlin to get married, settle down, and adopt a normal life. Or at least that was the plan.

Photo courtesy of Peacock.

In the 1960s when the Berlin Wall was being built and those who opposed it were being imprisoned and tortured (we just can’t seem to learn our lesson or at least try something new, maybe change things up a bit, be less angry) Amelia came out of her retirement from espionage one last time to help a wanted German citizen escape the city and be released into British custody. His crime was teaching Philosophy at the local college, and it was from his college classes and covert meetings where people were beginning to get the idea that maybe they should speak up about the new concrete addition to their city. Throughout her last days, Amelia saw politics change in Germany in historic ways as people began to understand the power they held as citizens and free-thinking individuals which made all of her sacrifices worth the pain.

Beautifully shot, well written, with a music score that intertwines itself superbly with each scene, Dime Quién Soy: Mistress Of War is a work of art (but not an art film, big difference.) It has mystery, intrigue, romance, heartbreak, and realistic espionage scenes rather than goofy James Bond scenarios. It’s slated as a historical drama but I’d say it’s more accurate to think of it as a historical fiction drama.

For more information, you can visit the IMDb here

The official trailer can be watched here