Counterespionage thriller is first Chinese movie to get backing of intelligence agency

Dodging glass-walled skyscrapers, a drone joined a high-octane chase as a spy tried to evade the agents in pursuit. In moments, the unmanned aircraft knocks him down. The drama happened in China’s southern city of Shenzhen and has been seen by millions of people domestically and abroad, including in the United States.

But it was not real. It was one of the scenes from “Scare Out,” a recently released Chinese movie that marks the first motion picture to be endorsed by China’s secretive and powerful Ministry of State Security.

A movie about a mole inside an intelligence agency is not new in many countries, but it is in China, where the authorities — especially those with links to security — are used to keeping strict control over what is shared.

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