Review: 'All the Old Knives' is a Twisty, Bittersweet Spy Thriller

Old lovers reconnecting can evoke a multitude of conflicting emotions: joy and pain, nostalgia and regret. It can be difficult ruminating the loss of an important relationship and unfulfilled future. But these are no ordinary exes in "All the Old Knives."

Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton star in director Janus Metz's bittersweet, labyrinthine spy thriller about two exes and former CIA colleagues re-examining a past terrorist plane hijacking and a mole on their team. Based on his novel, Olen Steinhauer wrote the screenplay.

Wasting no time, the film immediately immerses the audience in the plane hijacking of Flight 127: A woman's bloody body dragged through a plane aisle amidst terrified passengers. We later learn 120 people died. Jumping eight years ahead, CIA agent Henry (Chris Pine) is assigned to investigate and find the mole who leaked pivotal information during the hijacking.

Henry meets with Celia (Thandiwe Newton), his former colleague and ex-girlfriend, to find out what really happened and if she is the mole. They worked together in the Vienna office during the hijacking. Celia left the CIA, now living in a coastal Californian town with her husband and two children.

For the interrogation, Henry and Celia talk while eating dinner at an upscale restaurant overlooking the ocean at sunset. They look happy yet hesitant to see each other. Fitting for a reunion of exes, the lush romantic setting strangely juxtaposes their intense discussion of death, espionage, and terrorism.

Celia and Henry both loved their jobs and each other. Quick cuts of sex and their previous life together periodically interrupt their dinner – memories collide with the present. She says she had a "dream" life, but Flight 127 irrevocably changed everything.

Sinuously moving back and forth, "All the Old Knives" continuously cuts from eight years in the past to the present. The film also goes back two weeks earlier to Henry interrogating Bill (Jonathan Pryce), Celia's dear friend and former boss. Brimming with dialogue and exposition, which makes sense for an espionage film, it becomes a cat-and-mouse game between the two exes.

Always a superb actor, Thandiwe Newton fantastically emotes overtly and subtly. She shines, her face incredibly expressive. Chris Pine oozes charisma as an actor. While giving a solid performance, he works better when inhabiting more unrestrained roles. Pine's face is often inscrutable, intentionally so. Their roles here require restraint with serene facades and artifices, everything emotionally tumultuous happening beneath the surface.

The film leverages a narrative device to throw off the mole's identity. Trite dialogue occasionally hinders, but the actors' performances and chemistry elevate the material.

Approaching more intimate terrain, Henry asks about their relationship ending. Celia straightens in her chair, bracing herself from vulnerability and redirects the conversation. Clearly, their old wounds have not fully healed.

Celia reveals to Henry that she has "unbearable" nightmares about being a passenger on the hijacked plane with her children. While adding nuance to her character – and having children undoubtedly changes a person's life and perspective – it's not necessary to be a parent in order to empathize.

The hijackers from Iran and Chechnya blame their actions on the U.S.'s militarism. There's a valid criticism to be made here about war, colonialism, and racism. While attempting to broach a difficult topic, the film lacks complexity, provides an ineffective commentary, and reifies Islamophobic tropes.

While not groundbreaking or revelatory, the leads' likeability and chemistry makes "All the Old Knives" engaging. The moving and tragic ending blindsided me, eliciting a surprisingly emotional reaction. The film works most effectively in its bittersweet depiction of time – how easily it slips away – and the reunion of two lovers.

"All the Old Knives" opens in theaters and streams on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, April 8, 2022.