An old-school, slow-burn, take-your-time spy thriller, "All the Old Knives" is the kind of made-for-adults drama that has mostly been squeezed to the edges of cinema in the wake of modern Hollywood's all comic books, all the time business model. In terms of today's product, "All the Old Knives" pretty much counts as curling up with a good book.
Danish Director Janus Metz (2017's "Borg vs. McEnroe"), working from a script by spy novelist Olen Steinhauer, serves up a layered mystery laced with conflicting loyalties, centering on two reunited ex-lovers connected by a deadly terrorist incident a decade prior. The story plays out over multiple timelines, intercut with one another, and weaves an intriguing storyline that digs deeper than simple whodunit reveals.
Chris Pine is Henry Pelham, a CIA agent called in to tie up the loose ends of a plane hijacking in 2012. Back then, he was working at the agency's outpost in Vienna alongside Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton), his lover, as well as bureau chief Vick Wallinger (Laurence Fishburne) and veteran agent Bill Compton (Jonathan Pryce). Was there a mole in the office back then, and how did that affect the incident on the plane, which left all of the passengers on board dead?
Henry and Celia, separated for years, meet up at a luxurious but suspiciously empty (the movie was filmed during COVID) restaurant in California's wine country and they try to read the tells on each other's faces as they go over the particulars of what happened. Who's telling the truth, who's lying? And who's that dude at the bar who is occasionally shooting glances over at their table?
Metz takes his time parsing out the story, and Pine and Newton are able to generate heat between them both in the present and in their flashback love scenes. "All the Old Knives" manages to keep viewers guessing up until its final frames. And even after that, it manages to ask an even bigger question that lingers after the closing credits: why aren't there more movies like this these days?
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'ALL THE OLD KNIVES'
Grade: B
MPAA rating: R (for sexuality/nudity, violence and language)
Running time: 1:41
Where to watch: In theaters and on Amazon Prime Video
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