Salt (2010)
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A CIA operative accused of being a Russian sleeper agent must go on the run to clear her name.
The story
Evelyn Salt is a CIA operative who finds herself in a high-stakes predicament after being accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. Following a tense prisoner exchange in North Korea and a subsequent confrontation with a Russian defector, Salt's true identity is called into question. She is forced to go on the run, evading both the authorities and those who want her dead. As she navigates a dangerous landscape of betrayal and conspiracy, she must navigate a web of lies to uncover the truth about her role and the threat posed by the Russian sleeper agents known as 'KAs'.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Evelyn Salt is held in North Korea until a prisoner exchange occurs. Two years later, while interrogating a Russian defector, Orlov claims that a sleeper agent named 'KA-12'—who is actually Evelyn Salt—is part of a plot to destroy the U.S. Salt flees, and her husband Mike is kidnapped. She eventually confronts Orlov and later infiltrates the White House as part of a plot to stop a nuclear threat. In a flashback, it is revealed she was trained in the Soviet Union to assume the identity of a girl who died in a car crash. She eventually discovers that her colleague, Winter, is actually a Russian agent named Tarkovsky. After a confrontation in a bunker, she manages to stop a missile launch and is captured. She eventually escapes into the Potomac River after convincing a CIA officer that she is not the enemy. The film's alternate cuts reveal different endings, including one where the U.S. President is killed by Tarkovsky and a final scene suggesting the new U.S. President might be a sleeper agent.
- First release year
- 2010
- Runtime (minutes)
- 100
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Phillip Noyce
- Writers
- Kurt Wimmer · writer; Brian Helgeland · writer
- Cast and characters
- Angelina Jolie · Evelyn Salt; Liev Schreiber · Theodore "Ted" Winter / Nikolai Tarkovsky; Chiwetel Ejiofor · Darryl Peabody; Daniel Olbrychski · Oleg Vassily Orlov; August Diehl · Mike Krause
- Genres
- action; thriller; spy; mystery
- Themes
- identity; espionage; betrayal
- Tone and mood
- tense; action-packed
- Premise and plot tags
- spy thriller; action; conspiracy
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Far-Reaching Philosophy of Edwin A. Salt
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews, praised for its action and lead performance, but criticized for its convoluted plot.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 62% · scale: percentage · review count: 250; Metacritic · score: 65 · scale: 100 · review count: 42
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · Best Action/Adventure Film · Won; Academy Award · Best Sound Mixing · Nominated; Taurus World Stunt Award · Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman · Won
- Production trivia
- The script was originally written with a male protagonist and intended for Tom Cruise.; The film's title was originally 'Edwin A. Salt'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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