Heart of Stone review: Generic spy thriller is passable at best

Heart of Stone follows Rachel Stone, a spy for a secret agency, who must stop a hacker from stealing an AI technology that is as dangerous as its powerful. The film is now streaming on Netflix.

Story

Rachel Stone is an MI6 spy, but she is not a field agent. She assists her team, which consists of three other agents, behind the scenes. Although she works closely with them, her team is unaware that Stone is in fact an undercover spy who works for the Charter.

The Charter is an agency that is considered to be a myth. It comprises ex-intelligence operatives who answer only to themselves and have no national allegiances or political leanings. The Charter works to maintain peace in the world.

The agency owns an AI technology called the Heart, which can hack into and find anything, anywhere. The Heart is extremely powerful, as it can predict the future. With the Heart, one can have immense power and even destroy the world.

When Stone and her team are on a mission, a woman hacks into their comms feed and then reveals her face to Stone for a few seconds. This hacker is able to break through the highest levels of military encryption.

The Charter suspects that the hacker might be after the Heart, and Stone is sent to catch her with her team. However, none of them are prepared for what is to come next. Will Stone be able to prevent the Heart from falling into the wrong hands?

Performances

Gal Gadot is bold, smart, and tough as Rachel Stone is supposed to be. Emotional scenes are not her forte, but when it comes to action scenes, she plays the part well.

Alia Bhatt plays the role of Keya, and she makes the best out of what the script gives her. Her performance prevents Keya from being seen just as an antagonist and nothing more. 

Jamie Dornan also performs his part well. He has to switch gears midway through the film, and he does that rather smoothly. To put it simply, he gives a convincing performance.

Positives

The film has many exciting scenes, including action sequences, that keep the audience entertained. Some of these scenes, like the parachute chase, are quite adventurous and unique.  

Heart of Stone takes the audience to different places. Sometimes the protagonist will be fighting the enemies in the snowy Alps, and other times, she will be seen stranded in the West African desert. The change in the setting gives the film an adventurous touch.

The film has a few plot twists that the audience will not be able to predict. These revelations will make the audience wish for more of them, as they bring something exciting to an otherwise generic plot.

Negatives

As a spy thriller, the film does not have anything new to offer. Apart from a few unpredictable twists and turns, the film is not any different from so many other spy thrillers. Hence, most of it is quite predictable. 

Heart of Stone can also be dense at times, as it fails to smoothly fit in the information that it wants to give the audience. Whether it be the past of various characters or the details about other things, it either comes across as an infodump or seems ill-fitted in the story.

The film has a few jokes here and there, but they fall flat. Instead of making the character look witty or quirky, they give the impression that the characters are trying too hard to be funny.

Verdict

Heart of Stone can be enjoyable, but it does not offer much that will make it stand apart from other spy thrillers. It then becomes just another average spy thriller. 

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Also Read: Heart of Stone summary and ending explained