30/07/2025 - Benett Vilmányi, Daphné Patakia, Zsolt Nagy, Iván Fenyő, Thibault de Montalembert, Julie Gayet and Renan Pacheco all star in the cast of this Filmsquare-steered spy comedy

Actor Benett Vilmányi and director Viktor Oszkar Nagy (right) on the set of Espionage For Beginners (© Filmsquad/The Orbital Strangers Project)

Shooting on Espionage For Beginners, Viktor Oszkar Nagy’s 3rd feature film after Father’s Acre (awarded the Gene Moskowitz trophy in Hungarian Film Week 2009) and Bullhorn Lullaby [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2021), back in mid-July.

Stand-out names in the cast include Benett Vilmányi (at his absolute best in Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lili Horvat
interview: Natasa Stork
film profile] and Wandering Leaves), Belgian-Greek actress Daphné Patakia (nominated for the 2022 Best Acting Revelation Lumière via Benedetta [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and soon to be seen in Chien 51), Zsolt Nagy (nominated Best Actor in Hungarian Film Week 2020 thanks to Comrade Drakulich [+see also:
film review
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interview: Márk Bodzsár
film profile] and especially well-received in The Game [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Sky Dome 2123 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tibor Bánóczki, Sarolta Szabó
film profile]) and Iván Fenyő (As Far as I Know [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). They’re joined by French talents Thibault de Montalembert (of the series Call My Agent! and All Quiet on the Western Front [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edward Berger
film profile]), Julie Gayet (nominated for the Best Supporting Role César in 2014 via The French Minister [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and recently seen in The Chase) and Renan Pacheco (glimpsed in the series Emily in Paris, among other appearances).

Written by Norbert Csala, the story revolves around 28-year-old György who’s a receptionist in a hotel in Hungary nestled on the shores of Lake Balaton. Feeling trapped in a life which isn’t going anyway, he’s convinced he’s made for greater things. During the summer of 1976, he meets a young Belgian woman called Mathilde with whom he falls hopelessly in love. But their romance doesn’t go unnoticed. The Hungarian minister for the interior takes an interest, because Mathilde’s father is the chief deputy of Ouest Machine, a Belgian firm specialising in military technology. Hoping to obtain crucial information through György, the ministry employees try to force his hand by blackmailing him into cooperating. But, to their great surprise, György offers to help them voluntarily – it turns out he’s keen to take part in an international operation in Belgium. Believing that he’s finally found an opportunity to realise his spy potential, György dives in headfirst, but finds himself stumbling from one disaster to another...

Produced by Istvan Major for Hungarian outfit Filmsquad, in co-production with Belgium’s Wrong Men and Spain’s Javier Toledo, Espionage For Beginners enjoys support from the National Film Institute Hungary (NFI). Having kicked off on 27 May, shooting unfolded in Hungary (in Budapest and at Lake Balaton) and Belgium (between 30 June and 11 July) with Guillaume Benski (Superbe Films) as executive producer and Ábris Gosztola heading up photography. World sales are steered by US firm Moonstone Entertainment.

(Translated from French)