Allied (2016)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A Canadian intelligence officer and a French Resistance fighter fall in love while posing as a married couple during a mission in Casablanca.
The story
In 1942, during World War II, Wing Commander Max Vatan, a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot with intelligence duties, travels to Casablanca in Morocco to assassinate a German ambassador. To pose as a married couple, he is partnered with a French Resistance fighter, Marianne Beauséjour, who escaped from France after her resistance group was compromised and eliminated. Marianne secures Max an invitation to a party where they plan to conduct the assassination. Their mutual affection and a belief that they might not survive the day result in a sexual encounter on the day of the mission. After the successful assassination, they escape, and Max asks Marianne to come with him to London and be his wife.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1942, during World War II, Wing Commander Max Vatan, a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot with intelligence duties, travels to Casablanca in Morocco to assassinate a German ambassador. To pose as a married couple, he is partnered with a French Resistance fighter, Marianne Beauséjour. They successfully complete the mission and marry in London, where they have a daughter named Anna. In 1944, Max learns from the Special Operations Executive that Marianne may be a German spy. To test her, he is ordered to conduct a 'blue dye' tracking operation. Max eventually flies to France to meet a contact, Delamare, who confirms Marianne's identity as a pianist. Back in London, Max confronts Marianne, who admits she is a spy but claims her feelings for him are genuine and she was forced into it to protect their daughter. Max, unable to kill her, tells her to flee. She tells him she loves him and asks him to care for Anna before she kills herself. Max then tells his superiors she was executed as ordered. The film ends with Max and Anna living on a ranch in Alberta.
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 124
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Robert Zemeckis
- Writers
- Steven Knight · writer
- Cast and characters
- Brad Pitt · Max Vatan; Marion Cotillard · Marianne Beauséjour; Jared Harris; Simon McBurney; Lizzy Caplan
- Genres
- romantic drama; romance; war drama; spy thriller
- Themes
- Love and sacrifice; Identity and deception; War and espionage
- Tone and mood
- Romantic; Suspenseful; Melodramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- World War II; Spy Thriller; Romance; Historical Fiction
- Source material / true-story basis
- A story told to Steven Knight by his aunt.
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its costume design, cinematography, and musical score, but saw criticism for its screenplay and the lack of chemistry between the leads. It was considered a box office flop.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 60% · scale: percentage · review count: 258; Metacritic · score: 60 · scale: 100 · review count: 44; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 79% · scale: percentage
- Awards and nominations
- Best Costume Design · Academy Awards · Nominated
- Production trivia
- The film used locations in Gran Canaria to stand in for Morocco.; The costume designer had only two weeks for research.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…