Ordinary women. Extraordinary heroes.
In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency – “SOE” – to recruit and train women as spies. Their daunting mission: conduct sabotage and build a resistance.
SOE’s “Spymistress,” Vera Atkins (Stana Katic) recruits two unusual candidates: Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas), an ambitious American with a wooden leg, and Noor Inayat Khan (played by Radhika Apte), a Muslim pacifist. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France, leaving an unmistakable legac in their wake.
Inspired by true stories, “A Call To Spy” draws on SOE, OSS (pre-cursor to CIA), and CIA files, as well as interviews with living relatives.
“While I have enjoyed many films about the heroism of soldiers risking their lives in wartime, usually these films are focused on the men,” said writer, producer and star Sarah Megan Thomas. “Once I learned about the ‘lady spies’ in Churchill's Secret Army, and realized that their stories are still "secret" to most of the world, I knew ‘A Call To Spy’ had to be made.”
“Through these women's stories, I also wanted ‘A Call To Spy’ to explore the power of resistance -- even in the face of failure,” continued Thomas. “This film largely takes place in the beginning of the war, when the Allies were losing. Women were recruited as an experiment, because it was thought that they would be inconspicuous. These "lady spies" put their lives on the line before there was an established spy circuit, and before anyone knew what they were doing. They were told they had no more than a 50/50 chance of survival. Yet these courageous women refused to accept the evil of the moment, understanding they must do something, even under the toughest circumstances. Individual actions can make a difference. This was true then and is true now.”