Movie · 2025 · Thriller, Action · 2h 3m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 1.6/10 (332.5K ratings)
Don't underestimate him.
Overview
After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.6/10
IMDb: 6.5/10
Letterboxd: 2.87/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%
Metacritic: 52
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
James Hawes
Production
20th Century Studios, Hutch Parker Entertainment, Joel B. Michaels Productions, TSG Entertainment
Cast
Rami Malek, Holt McCallany, Danny Sapani, Rachel Brosnahan, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne, Julianne Nicholson, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Adrian Martinez, Evan Milton, Nick Mills, Tiffany Gray, Kate Sumpter, David Mills, Anita Anand, Ryan Chilcote, Barbara Probst, Joseph Millson, Marc Rissmann
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, watchable revenge-thriller built around an appealingly awkward lead performance, but it often feels like a familiar spy template running on autopilot. The premise has enough emotional hook and procedural gimmicks to stay engaging, yet the execution leans more on competence-porn mechanics than real suspense.
Best for
Viewers who like grief-fueled espionage stories
Fans of socially awkward or hyper-analytical protagonists
People who enjoy polished, mid-budget action thrillers
Audiences looking for an easy, undemanding revenge watch
Skip if
You want tightly engineered spy plotting
You prefer grounded realism over movie-logic hacking and tradecraft
You are tired of lone-wolf vengeance stories
You want the emotional depth of the best modern espionage dramas
Overview
The Amateur is built on a strong hook: a brilliant CIA decoder, shattered by a personal loss, decides to weaponize his intelligence when the system won’t. That setup gives the film an immediate emotional engine, and Rami Malek’s brittle, inward energy helps sell the idea of a man who is dangerous precisely because he is not built like a conventional action hero.
Worth noting
What keeps it from fully taking off is familiarity. The movie moves through a lot of recognizable spy-thriller beats, and the procedural details are often more functional than thrilling. It has enough momentum, style, and occasional dark humor to remain entertaining, but it rarely surprises in the way the premise promises.
Bottom line
As a genre piece, it lands in the middle: polished, efficient, and intermittently tense, but not especially memorable once the credits roll. If you’re in the mood for a revenge thriller with a cerebral lead and a clean studio finish, it does the job. If you want the genre sharpened into something truly fresh, this one stays safely in the lane.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Marshall 🌲 (3★) · 4368 likes
close enough welcome back mr. robot (i haven’t seen a single episode)
Dan Mancini (3★) · 3908 likes
The Bourne Autism
frejaoneill (3.5★) · 2689 likes
he better have liked and subscribed after watching that video
zoë rose bryant (2.5★) · 2298 likes
not every wife guy spy movie can be black bag
Nick Naney (2★) · 2160 likes
What if John Wick was a little rodent man whose wife gave him a fidget spinner instead of a dog?
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
Fast-moving surveillance paranoia with a man hunted by systems bigger than himself.