Movie · 2025 · Action, Thriller · 1h 37m · R · English
Curator score: 0.6/10 (40K ratings)
The stakes are a thousand feet high.
Overview
When a group of radical activists take over an energy company's annual gala, seizing 300 hostages, an ex-soldier turned window cleaner suspended 50 storeys up on the outside of the building must save those trapped inside, including her older brother.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.6/10
IMDb: 5.2/10
Letterboxd: 2.32/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 52%
Metacritic: 51
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Martin Campbell
Production
Anton, Qwerty Films
Cast
Daisy Ridley, Taz Skylar, Matthew Tuck, Flavia Watson, Ruth Gemmell, Clive Owen, Rufus Jones, Lee Boardman, Richard Hope, Stella Stocker, Akie Kotabe, Lorna Lowe, Cassandra Spiteri, Regina Seifert, Poppy Townsend White, Dudley Watts, Andreea Diac, Calvin Warrington-Heasman, Gavin Fleming, Ray Fearon
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A familiar Die Hard-style siege thriller with a strong central performer and some old-school craft, but the script is thin, the stakes feel recycled, and the action rarely rises above competent. It works best as a disposable, late-night watch rather than a must-see genre entry.
Best for
Viewers who enjoy single-location hostage thrillers
Fans of Daisy Ridley looking for an action lead
People in the mood for a straightforward, undemanding action movie
Audiences who like classic 90s/2000s-style studio thrillers
Skip if
You want inventive action choreography or big set-piece spectacle
You are tired of Die Hard imitators
You need sharp writing, emotional depth, or memorable villains
You dislike implausible plotting and convenience-driven suspense
Overview
Cleaner is built from a very familiar template: one building, one siege, one outsider forced to improvise under pressure. The appeal is mostly in the execution. Martin Campbell knows how to keep a thriller moving, and Daisy Ridley gives the movie enough grit and physical commitment to make the premise go down easier than it should.
Worth noting
The problem is that the film rarely finds a fresh angle on its own setup. The hostage crisis, the activist-villain framework, and the family-drama beats all feel like pieces borrowed from better movies, and the script leans on convenience whenever it needs momentum. It’s watchable, but in a functional rather than inspired way.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a compact action movie with a competent lead and a recognizable shape, it can do the job. If you want tension that escalates in surprising ways, or action that feels genuinely inventive, this one is more serviceable than satisfying.
Top Letterboxd reviews
nolan (3★) · 334 likes
can’t get much cleaner than daisy ridley in a strokes t-shirt
Kit Lazer (2.5★) · 323 likes
I love Daisy Ridley, though
pirateneckbeard (2★) · 273 likes
What a wash but seriously I went into this just to watch a dumb action film and I was rewarded with one.
Honestly I found myself hating so many pretenses in building this story hell even her cleaning windows outside amazingly being able to listen in on conversations going inside that amazingly all happened on her one vertical length of washing but as it went along I was slightly bemused when I eventually took down my guffaw guard. This be… more What a wash but seriously I went into this just to watch a dumb action film and I was rewarded with one.
Honestly I found myself hating so many pretenses in building this story hell even her cleaning windows outside amazingly being able to listen in on conversations going inside that amazingly all happened on her one vertical length of washing but as it went along I was slightly bemused when I eventually took down my guffaw guard. This be… more
JP (1.5★) · 251 likes
Die Hard if it was very bad
2025 Ranked
B E R T (4★) · 228 likes
I’d happily watch Daisy Ridley do absolutely nothing and still be riveted, so Daisy Ridley doing Die Hard? Hell yes!
2013 · Action, Thriller · 2h · R · Curator 1.2/10 (462.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, AMC+, Philo, BBC America, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A modern, blunt-force version of the siege-rescue formula with a similar disposable-entertainment appeal.