Movie · 2010 · Action, Mystery, Thriller · 1h 40m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 1.9/10 (516.6K ratings)
Who is Salt?
Overview
As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt swore an oath to duty, honor, and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a Russian defector accuses her of being a Russian sleeper spy. She goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture, protect her husband, and stay one step ahead of her colleagues at the CIA. Her efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: "Who is Salt?"
Ratings
Curator score: 1.9/10
IMDb: 6.5/10
Letterboxd: 2.93/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 62%
Metacritic: 65
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Phillip Noyce
Production
Wintergreen Productions, Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, di Bonaventura Pictures
Cast
Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl, Daniel Pearce, Hunt Block, Andre Braugher, Olek Krupa, Cassidy Hinkle, Corey Stoll, Vladislav Koulikov, Olya Zueva, Kevin O'Donnell, Gaius Charles, Zach Shaffer, Albert Jones, Zoe Lister-Jones, Paul Juhn, Tika Sumpter
Curator Review
Verdict
A brisk, glossy spy thriller with a strong central performance and enough momentum to stay entertaining, even when the plot gets increasingly absurd. It works best as a fast-moving action vehicle rather than a logic puzzle.
Best for
viewers who want sleek early-2010s espionage action
fans of Angelina Jolie as an icy, physical action lead
people who enjoy twisty spy stories more for pace than plausibility
audiences looking for a short, efficient thriller
Skip if
you need airtight spy-movie logic
you dislike implausible identity-reveal plots
you want grounded realism over comic-book escalation
you prefer character-driven espionage over chase-heavy spectacle
Overview
Salt is one of those spy thrillers that runs on velocity, attitude, and the sheer force of its star. Angelina Jolie gives the movie its best asset: a cool, controlled presence that makes even the most ridiculous turns feel momentarily believable. Phillip Noyce keeps the film moving at a sharp clip, so it rarely has time to collapse under the weight of its own plotting.
Worth noting
The downside is that the script keeps asking for trust it hasn’t earned. The identity twists are intentionally slippery, but they can also feel arbitrary, and the emotional stakes are thin compared with the machinery of the conspiracy. If you’re watching for coherence, the movie will probably frustrate you.
Bottom line
If you’re watching for a lean, glossy, late-night spy chase with a strong action lead, it delivers. It’s not a great espionage film, but it is a very watchable one, especially when it leans into momentum over explanation.
Top Letterboxd reviews
aaron (4★) · 1716 likes
if angelina jolie killed me I would simply say thank you
dale 🍿 (4★) · 1213 likes
angelina jolie tending to a wound with a sanitary pad is feminist cinema at its finest
Bailey🏹 (2★) · 729 likes
angelina ur sexy but this movie didn't make sense
viking (2.5★) · 547 likes
there’s a flashback scene to how salt’s boss told her to seduce her husband because “he’s one of the worlds leading arachnologists, meaning he has unrestricted access to the north korean border” and i just want to know if that’s true, do spider scientists have access to the dmz
Silent J (3★) · 526 likes
Would have been better with some pepper dashed across it.
1998 · Action, Drama, Thriller · 2h 12m · R · Curator 4.8/10 (392.3K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A paranoia-driven chase film about surveillance, institutional power, and being hunted by your own side.