New action thriller movie with ‘modern, unique’ twist available to watch this week

One of the film's stars spoke to JOE about the action movie and what sets it apart from other similar stories.

The movie sees Malek play Charlie Heller, a brilliant but deeply introverted techwiz and decoder for the CIA whose life is turned upside down when his wife (Rachel Brosnahan, James Gunn's Superman) is killed in a London terrorist attack.

When his superiors (led by Holt McCallany, Mindhunter) refuse to take action against the people behind the murder, Charlie uses his access to CIA intelligence to blackmail his bosses into giving him training, cash and a new identity. This is so that he himself can trek across the globe to find and kill those responsible.

Also featuring a great supporting cast - including Caitríona Balfe (Outlander), Jon Bernthal (The Bear), Julianne Nicholson (Paradise) and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) - The Amateur boasts a tantalising premise: What if Q from the James Bond films went into the field on a vengeance mission?

Indeed, it is thrilling to watch Charlie, someone not too skilled in close combat or gunplay, rely instead on his inherent intelligence and knowledge of technology to enact his plan in a myriad of inventive ways.

Speaking to JOE about The Amateur, Caitríona Balfe said part of what made the script so attractive to her was Malek's unconventional yet compelling action hero.

"I think Charlie Heller does feel really modern and really unique in these kinds of films," she explained. "I think so many times… we're always used to seeing people who are perhaps using their brawn to fight their way through situations or exact their revenge on people.

"And here's somebody who is maybe not typical in that sphere but using their smarts and using technology in a way that helps them navigate this world. Yeah, it just feels very modern."

Balfe's character Inquiline is a long-distance acquaintance of Charlie, who winds up helping him on his revenge mission.

And like Charlie, Inquiline isn't what audiences and people within the movie expect of her at first.

Speaking about the character and her relationship with Charlie, Balfe told JOE:

"Inquiline is an asset of Charlie's. For years, they've had this banter going back and forth where Charlie's trying to figure out who Inquiline is, what's Inquiline's deal.

"And when they meet in person for the first time, obviously his expectations are completely upended. She is not who he thought he would be meeting. He was expecting a 50-year-old man.

"What I loved about her is that we meet this person who is a very solitary figure. She's obviously quite broken. She's had a lot of loss. But she's somebody, even though she's retreated from the world, intent on exposing corruption. She's intent on doing something good and bringing people to justice who are doing these terrible things in the world.

"She's a hero in my eyes. She's sort of a champion. But yet she also does it in this very quiet and solitary way."

The Amateur is out in cinemas on Friday, 11 April.