If you’ve already seen Mission: Impossible 7, Oppeheimer and Barbie this summer, chances are you are on the hunt for a new summer film to fill the void.
Well, this weekend has seen the arrival of action spy thriller Heart Of Stone, which could be just the ticket – and what’s even better is that it’s streaming on Netflix, so you don’t even have to leave the house to watch it.
Here’s everything you need to know...
What is Heart Of Stone about?
An official Netflix synopsis reads: “Rachel Stone appears to be an inexperienced tech, on an elite MI6 unit headed up by lead agent Parker. What her MI6 team doesn’t know is that Stone actually works for the Charter — a covert peacekeeping organisation, secret even from other spies, which uses cutting-edge technology to neutralise global threats.
“Rachel has been trained to be the consummate professional: a phenomenal field agent who sticks to the mission, follows the numbers, and trusts no one. When a routine mission is derailed by mysterious hacker Keya Dhawan (Alia Bhatt), Rachel’s two lives collide.
“As she races to protect the Charter and strives to beat the odds, her humanity might just be her biggest asset.”
Who is in the Heart Of Stone cast?
Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman, Justice League, Fast X) takes the lead as the titular Rachel Stone, while Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades Of Grey, The Tourist, The Fall) plays the MI6 unit’s lead agent Parker.
British Bollywood star Alia Bhatt, who is predominately known for her performances in Hindi-language films including Highway and Gully Boy, plays the mysterious Keya Dhawan, while the cast also features Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda, Wild Rose, Death On The Nile) as Nomad, German actor Matthias Schweighöfer (Oppenheimer, Army Of Thieves, Hinterland) as Jack of Hearts, Jing Lusi (Crazy Rich Asians, Pennyworth, Gangs Of London) as Theresa Yang and Paul Ready (Motherland, Bodyguard, MotherFatherSon) as Max Bailey.
What are the Heart Of Stone reviews saying?
It’s fair to say the critics’ reaction to Heart Of Stone has been pretty mixed, to say the least.
In its two-star review, The Independent branded it “a drab, forgettable, poorly lit mess”, while Empire gave it the same rating but it note that it was “perfectly watchable and often daft bit of fun” and Variety also branded it a “joyless thriller”.
Heart Of Stone fared slightly better with the Guardian, who gave it three stars and said: “It’s all total nonsense that barely warrants a first think let alone a second, but it’s surprisingly propulsive nonsense.”
The Times seemed to be much more impressed, however, claiming it could be “the start of a beautiful franchise” and said it was “reminiscent of Mission Impossible 7 — only good”.
At present, the film has just a 33% approval rating on movie reviews aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.
Is there a trailer for Heart Of Stone?
Yes, take a peek below...
How long is Heart Of Stone on Netflix?
The film clocks in at just over two hours – 123 minutes, to be exact.
Will there be a Heart Of Stone 2?
As yet, there is no confirmation from Netflix that a sequel to Heart Of Stone is on the cards.
Director Tom Harper told Digital Spy back in June that those conversations had yet to happen.
He said: “If you start thinking too much about the future, how it’s going to go down, what audiences are going to make of it, what critics are gonna say… That’s a scary thing to think about.
“For the moment just: make this film, hope you do a good job, hope the audiences are gonna love it, and take it from there.”
However, he did also speak to Entertainment Weekly of his hopes it could become a new female-led action franchise.
Heart Of Stone is streaming on Netflix now.