In the Netflix original film “Operation Mincemeat,” Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen are two British officers in World War II who develop a rather silly plan in order to throw the Nazis off the scent.
They plan to have a body wash up on the shore in Spain containing fake British intelligence of where their next invasion will be. But as they quickly find out, not just any corpse will do.
“Operation Mincemeat” is based on a true story of an actual operation during the war that made the Nazis think an attack was coming in Greece, all as they were planning their invasion into Sicily. And the British developed a plan to disguise a corpse of a tramp who had died of eating rat poison and dressed him as an officer carrying Allied secrets.
As the film shows, however, the British knew that the Germans would scrutinize any body or any intel that magically appeared in their hands. And there are many holes in the plan that could easily be exploited or simply not work out if, say, the body or the documents never reach where they intend it to go.
John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”) directs “Operation Mincemeat,” his first film since 2016’s “Miss Sloane,” from a script by Michelle Ashford. And in addition to the two former Mr. Darcys in Firth and Macfadyen, the film also stars Kelly Macdonald, Penelope Wilton and Johnny Flynn.
Netflix will give “Operation Mincemeat” a theatrical release on May 6 before it debuts on the streamer on May 11. Check out the first trailer for the film above.