Genre: Spy/Thriller
Director: Anton Corbijn
Writer: John Malone
Cast: Margot Robbie, Johnny Depp, Mark Strong, John Malkovich, Scoot McNairy, Tom Hopper, Luis Guzman, Sanjar Madi, Olive Elise Abercrombie
Plot: East Berlin, Germany, 1980.
Alexei (Johnny Depp), on the orders of his superior Nikolai (Mark Strong), assassinates a married couple with a rifle from a rooftop. He notices that the woman dropped something. The woman is still alive and curls up around the object on the ground. Alexei comes closer and finishes the woman off at close range. He looks at what the woman was protecting and finds the woman was hiding a baby. Alexei picks up the baby and brings it into his truck, which he drives through mountainous roads of Eastern Europe to Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan and into his small, stone house. Alexei gets out, the baby tightly wrapped in his coat.
Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, 1989.
Alexei has kept the child, Ludmila (Olive Elise Abercrombie), secret for eight years in his small mountain home. Together they watch the fall of the Berlin wall on a cheap, Russian TV. There is a knock at the door. It is Nikolai in his KGB uniform. Alexei greets Nikolai with respect and asks what brings him all the way out to the middle of nowhere. Nikolai asks Alexei to sit and have a drink with him. The two drink vodka as they speculate on the future of the Soviet Union when Ludmila comes out of her bedroom holding her favorite doll. Nikolai asks Alexei about the girl, surprised to see he is a father after all this time. Alexei tells Nikolai that he has cared for the girl since infancy after her parents were killed. This rings a bell to Nikolai. Nikolai finally reveals why he came to see Alexei - he wants Alexei to train the future soldiers of the Soviet Union. Alexei asks if they have a batch of fresh recruits or something, and Nikolai says fresh would be an understatement. They have joined forces with a Chinese program to begin training soldiers as children and he wants Alexei to help train the recruits. Alexei wonders what parent in their right mind would volunteer their children for such a program. Nikolai says they were the children of Russian soldiers, donated to Spetznaz Counter Intelligence. The parents view it as an honor. Alexei says that he would have to turn it down as he is raising Ludmila by himself. Nikolai tells Alexei that he isn't asking Alexei to do the job, he's ordering him to. Nikolai then smiles and tells Alexei that Ludmila is to come along with Alexei so that he can train her as well. Alexei downs a shot of vodka and begrudgingly agrees to follow his orders.
Siberia, 1990.
Ludmila watches enviously as Alexei trains the other, slightly older, children in hand-to-hand combat. After the training session, she asks Alexei why he isn't training her the same as the other children. He tells her that he doesn't want her to be just another Soviet soldier. She wants her to be able to think for herself, so he will train her separately from the others. Ludmila nods her head. Alexei asks her if she's ready for her first lesson, and Ludmila gets excited. Alexei stands in the middle of the room and tells Ludmila to attack him. Ludmila lunges at Alexei with a punch aimed for his torso, but it has little effect on him. He tells her not to attack his center - he has too much muscle there. He instructs her to aim for the fold points: wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, hips, knees, ankles. He tells Ludmila to try again, but this time not to strike until she has found her perfect position. Alexei swings at Ludmila. She ducks and drives her palms up into his wrists. The skinny 8 year-old Ludmila flips Alexei to the mat, then punches his windpipe. Alexei smiles while trying to catch his breath. Ludmila gives Alexei a hug, telling him that he's the best father in all of Russia.
Siberia, 1991.
Nikolai tells Alexei that the program no longer has the backing of the government since the Soviet Union is officially no more. Alexei asks what that means for the children. He says that they will turn the complex into an orphanage and the children will continue their training, but now instead of fighting for Mother Russia, they will need to do their work in the private black ops sector. Alexei says that he doesn't feel comfortable training the young to be mercenaries. It was different if they were fighting for their country, but now apparently there is no country left to be fighting for. Nikolai informs Alexei that everyone must stay the course in order for it all to work.
In the middle of the night, Alexei sneaks into the child barracks and silently collects Ludmila from her bed and begins carrying the sleeping child out of the building. He bundles her up in her blanket and begins stealthily making his way to a back fence of the compound. He pulls away some of the wire fencing and carries Ludmila off into the vast Siberian wilderness. Ludmila wakes up from the blistering cold and asks what's going on. Alexei tells her to stay silent.
Shoyna, Russia, 2005.
An older Alexei gets off of a fishing boat in the harbor of the small coastal village of Shoyna. He carries a basket of fishes through the village and to a small hut along the water. He enters the hut where an adult Ludmila (Margot Robbie) is cooking a stew. They have made themselves a simple life in the rural fishing village. Alexei sits down and begins drinking a bottle of vodka. Ludmila asks him if he remembered to pick up potatoes from the market on his way home. Alexei tells her he forgot. Ludmila says that she will go get some if he watches the stew while she's gone. Alexei downs a gulp of vodka and nods his head.
While Ludmila is away at the market, the door of the hut is kicked in. Alexei stumbles to his feet, half drunk. Nikolai and Andrei (Tom Hopper) enter the hut. Alexei scrambles to grab a gun from a drawer, but he is kicked to the floor by the imposing Andrei. Nikolai demands to know where the girl is. Alexei refuses to talk, so Andrei starts beating him. Nikolai asks him again, and Alexei spits blood at Andrei and Nikolai. Nikolai wipes his face and tells Andrei to go ahead and finish Alexei off. Andrei continues beating Alexei until his face is a mess of blood and pulp. Nikolai notices the stew cooking and tells Andrei to wait for the girl to return.
When Ludmila returns to the small home, she finds Nikolai waiting for her, tasting the stew that has been cooking. Alexei is nowhere to be found. Ludmila asks where Alexei is, and Nikolai tells her that he has killed Alexei and that he'll have her killed as well unless she comes to work for him. Ludmila refuses, so Nikolai prepares to shoot at her. Ludmila grips Nikolai's wrist as he is pulling the trigger, twisting it back so that Nikolai shoots himself in his knee. Nikolai falls to the ground. Andrei bursts into the hut with a shotgun, but Ludmila uses Nikolai as a human shield. Andrei, refusing to shoot his superior, throws down his gun and charges at Ludmila, who quickly headbutts him in the teeth. Andrei falls back. Ludmila then grabs the shotgun and fires at Andrei's face. She then turns to Nikolai and picks up his pistol. Ludmila shoots Nikolai in his other knee. She then hears trucks pulling up to the hut, so she escapes the hut and leaves the village.
San Francisco, California, 2006.
A massive cargo ship enters the San Francisco harbor. Ludmila hides inside of a cargo container, filthy and hungry. Ludmila sneaks off the ship as soon as it docks. She wanders the street until she sees a street market. Ludmila steals an apple and runs off before anyone notices.
Six months later.
Ludmila exits a large house with cleaning supplies with a group of Hispanic women. They are all paid cash by the cleaning company's owner, Patrick (Scoot McNairy). Since sneaking into the United States she has found work among some other illegal immigrants as a maid. When she returns to her shoebox of an apartment she finds Andrei waiting for her. Large portions of his face are gone, replaced with metal plates and skin grafts. He smiles at her as a team of soldiers enter with assault weapons raised. Ludmila jumps behind her couch and pulls out a grenade. She pulls the pin and ducks for cover. While the soldiers scramble away from the grenade, Ludmila jumps out the window just as the grenade explodes. She gets into her beat-up car and speeds away from the area.
Ludmila stops her car on a bluff overlooking the city to rest. Just as she finally closes her eyes, she is startled awake by a rap at the window. She pulls out a pistol, but is surprised and confused to see that it is Patrick. He tells her that they need to talk. He introduces himself as Patrick Dolan, CIA agent. He explains that he knows that former KGB goons are out to kill her. He warns her that she needs to get out of the country since the men who want her dead have put a sizable bounty on her head and now they know where to find her. He tells her that he can't help her in any official agency capacity at this time, but he tells her to go to a specific bar in Los Angeles. He tells her to ask for Anatoly. He can help her get out of the country. A gunshot suddenly rings out and Patrick begins coughing up blood. Ludmila runs away and into a wooded area.
Los Angeles, California.
Ludmila makes her way through an old speak-easy asking around for Anatoly. Ludmila is called over to a booth by a man who introduces himself as Anatoly (John Malkovich). He eyes her head to toe and says that she must be the girl who escaped Nikolai's child soldier program. She tells Anatoly that she is sick of living in hiding and wants to take Nikolai out for good. She offers to pay Anatoly to help her get back to Kazakhstan. Anatoly considers for a moment before finally agreeing. They leave the bar and head east of the city and out to the desert where Anatoly says he knows someone with a plane.
Ludmila and Anatoly eventually arrive at a small airfield operated by Oswaldo (Luis Guzman). He profusely refuses to give them one of his planes, insisting they can't afford his services. From the control tower, they see several cars approaching from a dirt road. Oswaldo looks through some binoculars, but doesn't recognize the men. Ludmila yanks the binoculars from Oswaldo, and sees that it is Andrei and several other armed men. She implores Oswaldo to help them lest he end up dead. Oswaldo begrudgingly leads Ludmila and Anatoly to an old cargo plane. As the plane speeds down the runway, Andrei and his men fire at the plane, but Oswaldo manages to pilot the plane off of the ground and into the air.
Moscow, Russia.
Oswaldo lands the plane in Moscow, upon Anatoly's instructions, since he tells them that modern Russia has disavowed Nikolai and his methods so they will be safe landing there. When they get off the plane, Ludmila tells Anatoly that he doesn't have to go with her to confront Nikolai. It's her battle after all. Anatoly laughs and tells her he is too old to be getting into battles with deranged generals. He'll stay in Moscow and have some fun. Oswaldo tells them that he has no plans of even leaving the plane, if any one cares.
Ludmila asks Anatoly what kind of papers she'll need to get into Kazakhstan, and he chuckles. He explains that the place is a war zone right now with Nikolai slowly taking the government by force. He tells her to find a young man named Serik in Aktobe. He will be able to show her where to find Anatoly wishes Ludmila luck and loudly announces that he's on his way to the Moscow red light district.
Ludmila hotwires a dirt bike and drives to Kazakhstan in the middle of a snowstorm. She finally locates the address that Anatoly wrote down for her, but it is just a furniture store. Freezing and exhausted, Ludmila enters the store and asks for Serik. The clerk points toward a back door. A shadowy figure watches Ludmila through the front windows of the store. The door leads to a small office where Serik (Sanjar Madi) sits counting money. Ludmila tells her that Anatoly said he could help her locate someone. Serik asks who she needs to locate, and she says Nikolai. Serik laughs, saying it figures that someone who is friends with Anatoly would be trying to locate the most powerful man in the country right now. Sparrow locks the money in a safe and takes her out to his car. He drives her to the outskirts of the city where there is a large modern compound.
Ludmila tells Serik that she'll need some weapons. Serik pops the trunk of his car, revealing all kinds of assault weapons. He tells her to take her pick. Ludmila chooses an AK-47, for sentimental reasons she says. As Ludmila starts sneaking toward the compound, she is suddenly hit in the neck with a tranquilizer dart. Natasha slowly falls back, realizing that Serik has sold her out.
Ludmila wakes up, tied to a pipe outside of the compound. She has been stripped down to her underwear. Her skin is starting to turn blue from the cold. She notices that she is being watched by an armed guard. Suddenly the armed guard falls to the ground with a knife sticking out of his neck. Ludmila, unsure of who is approaching, struggles unsuccessfully to break free from her ties. A man approaches and takes off a ski-mask, revealing Alexei. He tells Ludmila that she shouldn't have come back. He cuts Ludmila loose and gives her his jacket. Ludmila starts to cry, saying that Andrei said he had killed him. Alexei opens his shirt, revealing a large scarred up gunshot wound to his chest. Alexei says he got lucky. Alexei takes the freezing Ludmila away from the compound to a nearby abandoned farmhouse nearby that he has been camping out in.
As they warm up by a fire, Alexei tries to convince Ludmila to leave with him. He reveals that he has stolen a crate of cash that was being delivered to the compound. They can use the money to escape and hide wherever she wants: America, Brazil, Australia, anywhere. She tells him that she is done running and hiding. If she can kill Nikolai, she will finally be able to live in peace. Suddenly, a sniper's bullet rips through Alexei's chest. The sniper then takes aim at Ludmila. As he's about to pull the trigger, he is grabbed from behind and has his neck snapped by Anatoly. Anatoly calls out to Ludmila, assuring her that it is safe for the moment. He approaches her in the farmhouse. She is relieved to see him until he pulls a gun on her. He tells her that he has no interest in killing her, but that he does plan on turning her into Nikolai for the $10 million bounty. Ludmila kicks the gun out of Anatoly's hands. The gun flies through the air, finally landing in Ludmila's hands. She then shoots Anatoly in the base of the spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. Ludmila tells Anatoly that she is grateful for his help so she won't kill him, but she does advise him to crawl out of the building because she's going to set fire to it.
Ludmila walks away from the burning farmhouse. Anatoly tries to drag himself out of the building using just his arms, but he isn't able to make it out before a beam collapses on top of him.
Andrei informs Nikolai that Ludmila has escaped before she could be loaded onto a transport. Nikolai now has to move around in an electric wheelchair following his last encounter with Ludmila. He tells Andrei that she must be on her way toward them by now.
Ludmila expertly sneaks through the compound, silently killing each guard she encounters. Ludmila triggers propane tanks outside of the building to explode. The explosion sets off the compound's alarms, but no soldiers rush out to combat Ludmila. She's already killed them. Andrei looks out the window and sees Ludmila standing in the middle of a courtyard. The very sight of Ludmila fills Andrei with anger, so he rushes out to confront her. While she is distracted by Andrei, Ludmila is suddenly hit in the back of the head, knocking her out.
Ludmila wakes up, naked and strapped to a chair in a torture chamber. A door opens. Nikolai and Andrei enter, quickly followed by Patrick. Ludmila is shocked to see Patrick there. She asks him what he got for selling her out to Nikolai. He says it is simple: he wanted the $10 million Nikolai was offering for her capture. Andrei punches Ludmila in the face. Patrick winces at the sight and tells Nikolai that he'll be waiting outside until they're done. Ludmila spits a small razor blade out of her mouth into her hand and uses it to cut her straps. She quickly grabs some pliers off a cart and stabs Nikolai in the eye with them. She then rips the pliers out and tosses them at Andrei, slashing his face. Andrei throws Ludmila across the room and into a window, shattering it. Ludmila grabs a piece of glass and charges at Andrei with it. She stabs Andrei in the throat with the glass. He staggers back and removes the glass. Blood spurts across the room. She leaves the torture chamber and walks outside into the snow.
Langley, Virginia.
Patrick Dolan enters his office at a CIA facility to find Ludmila waiting for him. She asks him why she shouldn't kill him. He says that his superiors are interested in hiring Ludmila, but that won't be a possibility if he's dead. Ludmila ponders the offer for a moment, but decides to kill Patrick, slitting his throat. Ludmila leaves the office, ready to start a new life.
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