New official trailer for HBO's The Sympathizer

Park Chan-wook's series starring Hoa Xuande, Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh will be available exclusively on Streamz and HBO Max from April 15. The spy series The Sympathizer follows the story of a double agent who has to flee from the South Vietnamese army to the United States, but continues to spy and report secretly. With the necessary cross-cultural satire, award-winning director Park Chan-wook delivers an action-packed series in which the main character also struggles with his political beliefs and loyalty in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

All seven episodes of the miniseries will be released weekly and exclusively on Streamz and HBO Max starting Monday, April 15.



In The Sympathizer we follow a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War. He has to flee from the South Vietnamese army to the United States, but in Los Angeles he discovers that his life as a double agent is not yet completely behind him.

While living in a community of South Vietnamese refugees, he continues to secretly spy on the community and report to the Viet Cong, at the same time being torn between his original loyalties and his new life. With the necessary satire, the series takes a look at the deeply lasting consequences of the Vietnam War.

The Sympathizer is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen. In addition to a cast that includes recent Academy Award winner Robert Downey Jr. and Emmy Award winner Sandra Oh, a lot of attention is paid to Vietnamese and Southeast Asian talents, including Hoa Xuande, who we know from Cowboy Bebop (2021) and the popular Vietnamese-American singer Ky Dyun.

In addition, Cannes Award winner Park Chan-wook will direct this spy series and the acclaimed A24 will produce it, making it a series not to be missed.

Chan-wook and Don McKellar serve as showrunner, executive producer and writer. In addition, A24 and Team Downey including Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey and Amanda Burrell are executive producers. Niv Fichman for Rhombus Media, Jisun Back for Moho Film, Kim Ly, Ron Schmidt and book author Viet Thanh Nguyen also serve as executive producers.

Episodes 1 to 3 are directed by Park Chan-wook, Fernando Meirelles is responsible for episode 4 and Marc Munden is responsible for episodes 5 to 7. ​

The writers are Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar, Mark Richard, Naomi Iizuka, Maegan Houang, Anchuli Felicia King and Tea Ho. 'The Sympathizer' is a co-production between HBO, A24 and Rhombus Media, produced in collaboration with Moho Film and Cinetic Media.

Below you can check out some new photos and the official trailer for The Symphatizer.