No One Is Safe in Israeli Cyber Security Thriller ‘Trust No One’
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World-premiering in competition at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, Israeli espionage thriller “Trust No One” marries the pedigree and primetime polish of past series like “Traitor” and “Valley of Tears” with techno-anxieties tied to the here-and-now – specifically with regards to the security state and modern cyber warfare.
“Israel has become one of the largest global exporters of spy ware,” says co-creator Daniel Amsel. “Only, those technological weapons can undermine democracy and lead to the death of truth. So we wanted to thread those very sensitive topics into an entertaining and fast-paced thriller that deals with the loneliness of leadership and the difficulties of parenthood, among other themes.”
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Created by Amsel alongside Ron Leshem (“Euphoria”) and Amit Cohen (“False Flag”), and directed by Ofir Lobel (“A Wonderful Country,” “Black Space”), the nine-part drama follows Itamar (“Fire Dance” award-winner Yehuda Levi), the youngest ever head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency turned target of a cyber-security leak.
The series was produced by Shenhar Productions for popular channel Keshet 12, and is slated for broadcast later this year. Keshet International handles world sales.
As promised by the title, the series ratchets up the paranoia scene-for-scene once Itamar finds himself alienated from (and suspicious of) the full security apparatus serving under him.
“Nobody’s spared in this age of AI, deep-fakes and all-powerful surveillance,” says Amsel. “Even if you’re surrounded by the most sophisticated defense system, nobody is safe. Not even the head of the biggest security agency in the Middle East.”
“We thought to explore how the most secretive people in the world react to a time when sharing has become our second nature and privacy no longer exists,” Amsel continues. “We have all willingly given up privacy in the name of comfort, and today every possible bit of data is but a few clicks away. That offers a fresh way into an intelligence agency drama, especially when you dive into the character’s point of view.”
“Itamar is not some typical strong and macho Israeli who wins every battle and only acts to save national security,” says director Ofir Lobel. “He makes mistakes and loses. [And even if] you’re raised to defend your state at any cost, sometimes choices backfire, sometimes the consequences are awful, and eventually you have to deal with [the ramifications of] those decisions.”
To wit, when targeted by a hacker collective that seems to have access to his full intel, the security chief must race against the clock to extract his many assets, focusing in particular on Shuruk (Luna Mansour), the daughter of a Hamas leader recruited and trained by Itamar himself. At the same time, the series tracks the devastating personal fallout within the hero’s home.
“When I first read the script, I realized we were dealing with a group tragedy,” says Lobel. “The tragedy of the person at the top of the chain, the tragedy of a country and security agency that manipulates weaker people from all over the world, but also the tragedy of parenthood – that what you do will come back to you through your kids no matter what.”
Later on set, the director would tell his cast to take the series’ title literally. “I always told the actors to perform as if somebody was listening,” says Lobel. “They whispered a lot, as if aware that every single camera angle could capture their every word and thought. And that really helped to build the paranoia.”
And this form of paranoia is not limited to any one country.
“Five tech giants hold about about 90% of the data from all people in the Western world,” Amsel says. “That means every bit of information about everyone you know is only five hacks away. And that’s not just an Israeli problem – although we’re using an Israeli case in order to showcase it.”
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