Spy thriller (2025). Written by David Koepp.
Plot Summary (Spoilers)
- British intelligence officer George Woodhouse must find who leaked the top-secret malware "Severus" — one of five suspects is his own wife, Kathryn.
- At a drugged dinner party, secrets spill: Freddie is cheating on Clarissa, who stabs his hand with a steak knife. Their superior Meacham dies that night.
- George finds a planted movie stub and a Zurich bank account with £7M in Kathryn's name — she's being framed.
- Redirecting a spy satellite to watch Kathryn lets a Russian general slip away with a copy of Severus, planning a nuclear meltdown in Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
- Kathryn leaks the general's location to the CIA; a drone strike kills him in Poland.
- Two plots are revealed: James and boss Stieglitz leaked Severus for the meltdown; Zoe and Freddie worked to stop it, using Kathryn.
- At a second dinner, James grabs the table gun, confesses, and fires at George — blanks. Kathryn shoots him dead with a real gun.
- The couple warn everyone: never exploit their marriage again. Stieglitz is told to retire. The £7M is left untouched in Kathryn's account — George's loyalty is to his wife before his country.
Ending explained (full spoilers)
- There were two separate plans running at once. Plot 1: James (backed by boss Stieglitz) leaked Severus so a Russian general could melt down a Russian nuclear reactor — thousands of deaths, but it would destabilize the government and end the war in Ukraine. Plot 2: Zoe learned of it from James and, on moral grounds, recruited Freddie to quietly stop it.
- Why Kathryn was framed. James planted the movie stub in George's trash, lured her to Zurich, and opened the £7M account in her name — making it look like she sold Severus, and goading George into spying on her.
- The satellite redirect was the real trick. During the few minutes George pointed the spy satellite at Kathryn, the Russian general escaped his safehouse with the Severus copy. Framing Kathryn was the distraction that enabled the theft.
- How Kathryn stopped it. She suspected Stieglitz and knew reporting it up the chain would get buried, so she leaked the general's location to a CIA contact herself — a crime, but the drone strike ended the meltdown plan.
- The final dinner. George reveals both plots on a hidden recording. Cornered, James grabs the table gun, confesses (including killing Meacham), and fires at George — it's loaded with blanks. Kathryn pulls a real gun and kills him, proving the film's thesis: they'd literally kill for each other.
- The loose ends are the point. James's body goes in a lake, staged as a work casualty. Stieglitz is told to retire "feet first." And the untouched £7M stays in Kathryn's name — George never reports it. His loyalty is to his wife before his country. It's a marriage story in a spy-thriller suit.
My Thoughts (Spoilers)
- Liked it. Short and tight at 1h30m.
- The Blanchett–Fassbender pairing was so cool, and the other cast were great too.
- Soderbergh's stylish directing, as in Ocean's. The cinematography was great.
- The plot was hard to follow, but not bad — I blamed myself for not fully understanding it. Reading the explanation afterwards made it land better.