If Sandra Bullock’s character being kidnapped into one of her own novels in The Lost City wasn’t enough action for you, Matthew Vaughn is here to help. The director (most recently of Kingsman: The Golden Circle) returns to the big screen with Argylle, the story of a novelist whose tales of dramatic espionage are apparently telling the future, maybe, sort of? And some people don’t like the way she sees it.
Also there’s a cat. And Sam Rockwell, action hero, which is frankly worth the price of admission.
The plot summary, according to Variety, goes like this:
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Bryce Dallas Howard is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books—which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate—begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past.
It’s not exactly clear—in a kind of entertaining way—who secret agent Argylle really is, here: The beginning of the trailer seems to be Elly’s mom’s experience reading Elly’s book (it’s got a certain Pulp Fiction influence), but then when a real spy turns up, he looks nothing like square-jawed (and haired) Henry Cavill. And the promise of the reveal of the real agent is met with shock.
Please let it be the cat.
Argylle is written by Jason Fuchs (though early marketing pretended it was by Elly Conway, who still has a credit on IMDb), whose resume includes Ice Age: Continental Drift, Pan, and a story credit on Wonder Woman. Along with Howard, Rockwell, and Cavill, it stars Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, and Samuel L. Jackson.
It’s in theaters February 2, 2024, which is a weird release date for a film with a cast like this.
This post was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
