2022 American thriller film
All the Old Knives
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Official release poster
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Directed by
| Janus Metz Pedersen
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Screenplay by
| Olen Steinhauer
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Based on
| All the Old Knives
by Olen Steinhauer
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Produced by
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Starring
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Cinematography
| Charlotte Bruus Christensen
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Edited by
|
- Mark Eckersley
- Per Sandholt
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Music by
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Production
companies
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Distributed by
| Amazon Studios
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Release date
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- April 8, 2022
(
2022-04-08
)
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Running time
| 101 minutes
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Country
| United States
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Language
| English
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All the Old Knives
is a 2022 American
spy thriller
film directed by
Janus Metz Pedersen
and written by
Olen Steinhauer
. It is based on Steinhauer's 2015 novel of the same name. The film stars
Chris Pine
,
Thandiwe Newton
,
Laurence Fishburne
,
Jonathan Pryce
and
David Dawson
.
All the Old Knives
was released by
Amazon Studios
in limited theaters across the United States, and on digital via
Amazon Prime Video
, on April 8, 2022.
Plot
[
edit
]
In early 2020,
CIA
officer Henry Pelham is informed by his boss, Vick Wallinger, that the CIA has reopened the case of Turkish Alliance 127, a 2012
terrorist
hijacking
which ended in tragedy. Headquarters suspects there was a leak from the
Vienna
station, where Henry and Vick work. Henry is sent to interview Celia Harrison, who also worked at the Vienna station at the time of the hijacking. Henry and Celia were lovers, but she left him shortly after the event.
Celia, now retired, lives in
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
with her family. Henry meets her at an upscale restaurant, which is almost empty of customers and staff. As Henry and Celia talk, she reveals that an
Austrian
intelligence agent named Karl Stein approached her shortly after she moved to Carmel. He wanted her to inform on her coworkers, but she refused. Henry has Celia recall the events of the hijacking.
In a
flashback
to 2012, Flight 127 is on the runway when it is hijacked by four armed
militants
belonging to an
Islamic terrorist group
. The Vienna station jumps into action to address the crisis and learns that Ilyas Shushani, a
Chechen
and former
informant
for Henry, may be involved. The hijackers threaten to kill the passengers unless several of their comrades are released from custody. Ahmed, a CIA courier who happened to be on the plane, contacts the CIA and suggests an attack via the plane's undercarriage. Celia connects with a possible source named Mohammed, but the meeting seems to yield nothing of value. Henry tells Celia and her mentor, Bill Compton, that when Henry worked in
Moscow
his superiors forced him to betray Ilyas to the
Russian government
as a trade-off for intel on an imminent attack on a U.S. embassy.
The Vienna station receives another message from Ahmed saying that the terrorists have a camera mounted on the plane's undercarriage and the assault should be called off. Celia notices differences in the language of Ahmed's messages and fears he has been compromised. Checking the station's phone logs, she notices that a call to
Iran
was placed from Bill's office phone. Then Ahmed is killed and thrown off the plane. The next day, Celia leaves both Henry and Vienna.
In the present, Henry asks why she ended their relationship so abruptly. Celia reveals that she saw a call on Henry's cellphone from the same Iranian number that she had found in the station phone logs. It is revealed that when the terrorists' demands were not met, they released
sarin
gas, killing themselves, the crew, and all passengers. The Vienna station is devastated by the outcome. Realizing that Henry was the leak, she left him but did not divulge her discovery to the CIA.
She further confesses that, after Henry contacted her to arrange this meeting, she contacted Karl Stein, and he arranged the meeting place, the staff, and fake customers, with the aim of poisoning Henry via his wine.
As Henry begins to succumb to the poison, Celia tearfully asks why he betrayed everyone to the terrorists. He explains that he was lured into a meeting with Ilyas, who had become
radicalized
and masterminded the hijacking. Ilyas' people staged the meeting between Mohammed and Celia to create the impression that Celia's life was in danger. This pushed Henry into revealing the plan for an undercarriage assault, and then the presence of Ahmed on the plane, in exchange for her life.
Henry comes to terms with his impending death, and Celia returns home to her husband and children. Karl calls Vick to report that Henry has died, revealing that they had been working together the entire time.
Cast
[
edit
]
Production
[
edit
]
The film was announced in May 2017, with
Chris Pine
and
Michelle Williams
in negotiations to star.
James Marsh
was set to direct, with
The Mark Gordon Company
and
Entertainment One
financing.
[1]
[2]
In September 2020, with Williams, Marsh and The Mark Gordon Company no longer involved with the film,
Thandiwe Newton
was cast to replace Williams and
Janus Metz
was hired as director.
[3]
In November 2020,
Jonathan Pryce
and
Laurence Fishburne
joined the cast.
[4]
Metz revealed filming had begun by December 2020 in
London
.
[5]
Filming wrapped in London in February and moved to
Monterey
and
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
, in March.
[6]
Metz revealed that principal filming wrapped in mid-March.
[7]
Jon Ekstrand
and
Rebekka Karijord
composed the film score.
Release and reception
[
edit
]
The film was released in limited theaters and on streaming on
Amazon Prime Video
on April 8, 2022.
[8]
Critical response
[
edit
]
The
review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
reported an approval rating of 63% based on 123 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "
All the Old Knives
suffers in comparison to the dialogue-driven spy thrillers of the past, but the chemistry between its stars simmers even when the story doesn't."
[9]
Metacritic
assigned the film a
weighted average score
of 62 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
[10]
Audience viewership
[
edit
]
According to
Samba TV
,
All the Old Knives
was watched by 637,000 US households in its first weekend streaming on Prime Video.
[11]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Kroll, Justin (May 5, 2017).
"Chris Pine and Michelle Williams to Star in 'All the Old Knives' (EXCLUSIVE)"
.
- ^
Aslam, Amna (March 5, 2022).
"All The Old Knives Latest Trailer, Release Date, Cast"
.
- ^
Kroll, Justin (September 17, 2020).
"Amazon Studios Lands Rights To Thriller 'All The Old Knives' Starring Chris Pine And Thandie Newton; 'ZeroZeroZero's Janus Metz Signs On To Direct"
.
- ^
Donnelly, Matt (November 19, 2020).
"Jonathan Pryce, Laurence Fishburne Join Chris Pine in Amazon's 'All the Old Knives' (EXCLUSIVE)"
.
- ^
"Janus Metz Pedersen Posts"
.
Facebook
.
- ^
Copitch, Josh (February 25, 2021).
"An Amazon original film to be shot in Monterey, Carmel starting in March"
.
KSBW
.
- ^
"Janus Metz Pedersen Posts"
.
Facebook
.
- ^
Devore, Britta (February 24, 2022).
"
'All the Old Knives': Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton's Spy Thriller Movie Sets April Release Date on Prime Video"
.
Collider
. Retrieved
February 24,
2022
.
- ^
"
All the Old Knives
"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Fandango Media
. Retrieved
September 23,
2023
.
- ^
"
All the Old Knives Reviews
"
.
Metacritic
.
Fandom, Inc.
Retrieved
April 28,
2022
.
- ^
"All The Old Knives was watched by 637K U.S. households in its first weekend streaming"
.
JoBlo
. April 15, 2022
. Retrieved
July 8,
2022
.
External links
[
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]