Atomic Blonde (2017)
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A spy must recover a list of covert agents in the final days before the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
The story
In November 1989, just before the Berlin Wall falls, a KGB agent steals a microfilm containing the names of every intelligence agent active in Berlin. Top-level MI6 spy Lorraine Broughton is dispatched to recover this list. She must navigate a dangerous landscape of double agents and rival spies while trying to identify the list's location. As she navigates the tense atmosphere of pre-collapse Berlin, she forms uneasy alliances and faces off against various operatives, all while trying to stay ahead of the fact that the information she seeks is a high-stakes target for both sides.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In November 1989, KGB agent Yuri Bakhtin steals a watch containing a list of intelligence agents from MI6 agent James Gascoigne. Lorraine Broughton is sent to recover it. She meets David Percival, an MI6 station head who she eventually suspects of betrayal. During her search, she encounters and forms a relationship with French agent Delphine Lasalle. Percival eventually kills Bakhtin to obtain the list, while Lorraine works with Lasalle to find the Stasi officer, Spyglass, who has memorized the names. During a chaotic extraction, Spyglass is lost in a river. Lorraine discovers Percival has betrayed her and eventually kills him to secure the list. She then presents forged evidence to her superiors to frame Percival as the double agent 'Satchel'. Later, in Paris, she meets the KGB's Bremovych, who addresses her as 'Satchel'. She kills his men and reveals she has been feeding him misinformation. The film ends with her and CIA officer Emmett Kurzfeld returning to the U.S., where it is implied she is a triple agent working for the CIA.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Leitch
- Writers
- Kurt Johnstad · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Charlize Theron · Lorraine Broughton; James McAvoy · David Percival; John Goodman · Emmett Kurzfeld; Til Schweiger · The Watchmaker; Eddie Marsan · Spyglass; Sofia Boutella · Delphine Lasalle; Toby Jones · Eric Gray
- Genres
- action; thriller
- Themes
- espionage; betrayal; identity
- Tone and mood
- stylish; violent
- Premise and plot tags
- Cold War; spy thriller
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart
- Reception
- The film was a box-office hit and received generally positive reviews from critics, with many comparing it to the John Wick series.
- Production trivia
- The film features a bisexual subplot not in the original book.; Charlize Theron's training for the role was so intense she cracked her teeth and bruised a rib.; The soundtrack uses a combination of 1980s songs and covers.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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