Sgt. Rock
Genre: Action/War/Superhero
Director: Jalmari Helander
Writers: APJ & Jimmy Ellis
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Alan Ritchson, Emma MAckey, Yura Borisov, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Mark Rowley, Fred Hechinger, Martin Sensmeier, Damon Herriman, Albrecht Schuch, Felix Kammerer, Lars Eidinger, Jean Dujardin
Plot: In the waning days of the war, Adolf Hitler (Damon Herriman), gaunt and increasingly erratic, commands Captain Albrecht Krieger (Yura Borisov) to retrieve the legendary Spear of Destiny. Hitler believes the relic will save the Reich through divine power. As Krieger leaves Hitler calls over Otto Günsche (Felix Kammerer) his adjutant. He tells Günsche to accompany Krieger and keep tabs on him. Günsche Sieg Heil’s and walks away.
Krieger spends the next moments hand picking his unit: Hans Krug (Albrecht Schuch), a ruthless elite soldier; Von Ziefh (Jack Doolan), Krieger’s long-time right-hand man; and the increasingly uneasy Günsche. Privately, only speaking with Von Ziefh, Krieger states that he believes Hitler is unworthy of the Spear and intends to use it for his own apocalyptic vision of a “cleansed” world. Günsche tries to get in on the conversation but Krieger stops immediately, turning around and stating the beginning of their plan. He states that they must start with obtaining a French archaeologist who specialises in Templar lore. He shows them a file on Alain Guillot (Jean Dujardin), Krieger tells the men that he is the one that would know the last location of the spear.
In the middle of France, Sgt. Frank Rock (Alan Ritchson) leads his platoon known as Easy Company through a fierce battle. He calls out to Jackie Johnson (J. Alphonse Nicholson), his second-in-command signalling for him to cover “Wildman” Shapiro. Wildman (Mark Rowley) runs out with no cover and tackles a German soldier to the ground, he brutally begins pummeling his head. From behind them all Sure-Shot Kiyahani (Martin Sensmeier) snipes three German soldiers in a row, with precision, each a headshot. “Ice Cream” Mason (Fred Hechinger) is the man next to Sgt. Rock - Mason is trying to make light of the situation, continuously speaking to Rock, before Rock turns to him and tells him to switch his mouth off and switch his brain on. Mason immediately turns from cover and pulls his trigger, killing many soldiers in his path. Sgt. Rock leaves his cover, running to the next, he tends to one of his own injured men, telling him to stay with him. His man dies, Rock is then attacked from behind by a German soldier. Rock overpowers him, knocking the gun out of his hand, Rock then grabs his head and slams it into the nearby wall. He pulls his gun and shoots the soldier dead. Rock then gathers the rest of Easy Company as they hold a brief moment of silence for their fallen comrade.
After the battle, Rock and Easy Company are pulled from the front lines and are given a classified mission by Allied Command.He tells Easy Company that they have deciphered from radio transmissions that Hitler has a team in place searching for a dangerous relic - The Spear of Destiny. It is Easy Company’s job to intercept the unit and stop them from acquiring said relic. Mason questions this asking if he is talking about THE spear of destiny, the spear that stabbed Jesus in his side. Allied Command states that they understand it may be a bit outlandish but there are crazier things that have come true in this world. He says that whether the spear is real or not, Allied Command does not intend to let Hitler use it for propaganda or worse. Rock thanks allied command for the task and says that Easy Company will not let him down. As they leave, Sure-Shot asks him where they start.
Sgt. Rock and the Easy Company set up base in the Alps of Brittany. Rock is speaking to Jackie Johnson in private as they plan out how they will tackle the mission when Mason appears holding a gun to the back of a woman’s head (Emma Mackey). Mason tells Rock and Jackie that Sure-Shot spotted her trying to sneak into the building. The woman very quickly disarms Mason, before telling him that if he ever shut up she would have explained. She throws the gun to the ground before raising her hands in the air to show no foul play. She looks directly to Rock and says that her name is Anais Guillot and Allied Command has deemed it would be beneficial that she join them on their mission as a French liaison. She hands Rock some paperwork. She also adds that her uncle, renowned archaeologist Alain Guillot had been kidnapped - she tells them that she wants to save her uncle but if he is truly helping the Nazis she is not above killing him. Rock looks to the others and welcomes her to Easy Company.
Krieger and his team rush an old monastery, the monks here don’t even put up a fight. The strike team led by Krieger execute all but one of the monks. Krieger stares directly into the eyes of the monk. He demands to know where the Templar artifacts are. He does not speak but continues looking toward a mural. Krieger commands Ziefh and Krug to search around the mural. Behind it they find a hidden compartment. Inside is an engraved plate pointing towards a Templar vault in the Carpathian Mountains.
Rock and Anais arrive at the monastery later and find the littered corpses of all the monks, including the previous survivor. Rock looks visibly irate whereas Anais is saddened by what has happened. The two of them head back to find the rest of Easy Company to come up with another plan.
While together Anais mentions that a Nazi transport train moves along the tracks a few times a day, she thinks that might be where they may find some clues. Rock looks at her nodding, “then we attack the train.”
A Nazi supply train rumbles through the night. From the ridge above, Sgt. Rock lies prone beside Kiyahani, who silently counts the boxcars. Jackie relays positions via hand signals. Rock gives a single nod. A moment later, explosions erupt on the tracks ahead, derailing the lead engine in a blaze. Easy Company opens fire from the treeline, moving closer to the train wreckage. Mason sprints low, staying hidden. Shapiro charges forward but gets clipped in the shoulder by a nearby Nazi soldier. Mason pops up and shoots the Nazi soldier through the chest. Jackie covers them, yelling for Kiyahani to pin down the remaining troops near the caboose. Inside, Rock and Anais pry open crates stamped with the Reich insignia that are filled with scrolls, smashed sculptures, and notes written by Alain Guillot. Anais is able to decipher her uncle's notes to find mention of the Judgement Vault.
Easy Company camps out for the evening around a fire. Jackie sharpens his knife. Mason scribbles into a pocket notebook. Shapiro sips from a flask. Kiyahani smokes in silence, keeping an eye out into the darkness. Anais watches Rock sitting apart from the others with his rifle laid across his lap. She asks Rock if he ever speaks. Annoyed that he doesn't answer, she starts to turn away, but Rock notices a smear of blood down her arm. He walks over without a word, kneels beside her, and begins dressing a grazed gunshot wound to her arm. When he finishes wrapping it, she pulls a small flask from her jacket and offers it to him. He takes a quick slug before telling Anais to duck quicker next time - unless she wants to get shot more. Jackie jokes that Rock is practically flirting with Anais with that much conversation.
In the Nazi camp, Alain Guillot is forced to translate old Templar maps as Krieger circles him like a wolf. Von Ziefh sets a bottle of wine and a tin cup on the table in front of Alain, who eyes the cup before pouring himself a drink. Before long, Alain has loosened up, flipping through the documents in front of him with sloppy excitement. He points out a spot on a weathered map - a monastery buried in a quake built by the Templars in the early 13th century - it could be the Judgement Vault. Krieger tells Krug to prepare to move the group east. Outside, Günsche quietly finishes encoding a message. He slips the paper into a sealed pouch marked for Berlin.
Adolf Hitler sits hunched over a war room table as a staff officer reads from Günsche’s coded dispatch. The message is clinical but clear: Krieger is deviating from mission parameters. Obsession with relic. Unstable. Possible insubordination. Hitler leans back and orders a battalion be sent out to retrieve the spear and eliminate Krieger if he resists as he slams a fist on the table.
Easy Company moves cautiously through the wreckage of a torched village - walls charred, bodies frozen. Mason mutters that "Captain Nazi" has been busy. The team continues ascending into the cliffs. At the base of a ruined monastery façade, Rock and Anais spot a makeshift outpost. They sneak further into the camp until Rock and Anais locate Alain, chained up. He’s lucid enough to explain that Templars protected the Spear of Destiny not for power, but because no man could be trusted with it.
By torchlight, Krieger stands before his men in the outer crypt chamber, telling them that the Spear of Destiny lies just beyond them, but that they will wait until morning - all good things come to those who wait. Later, Von Ziefh slips away, torch in hand. He creeps into the sealed chamber alone. At its center: the Spear of Destiny, resting on an altar wrapped in age-blackened cloth. He reaches for it, hands trembling. The moment he touches it, a surge of heat erupts - his body seizes, then ignites in a sudden burst of flame. He screams once before collapsing, engulfed. Nothing remains but scorched bones and smoking cloth. Günsche bursts into Krieger's tent - announcing that Ziefh is dead, burned alive by the spear. Krieger doesn’t flinch. He draws his pistol and kills Günsche for being a squealing little spy for Hitler.
Rock moves cautiously through a corridor, rifle drawn. Echoes of gunfire and shouted German ring faintly from above. He passes between towering stone columns — then freezes. Krug steps out from the shadows behind him. Rock turns just as Krug swings a length of broken rebar, knocking the rifle from his hands. The two men crash into each other. They trade heavy blows, fists thudding against bone. The fight moves through the rubble-strewn hall, each man slamming the other into stone. Rock grabs a splintered stone crossbeam that’s leaning loose from a collapsed wall and drives it forward, impaling Krug through the chest, pinning him against the cracked masonry. Krug struggles for a breath… then goes still. Rock steps back, wiping blood from his mouth, and moves on.
Gunfire echoes in the distance as Anais stumbles into the chamber searching for Rock. Her eyes land on the Spear of Destiny, resting alone atop the altar where Von Ziefh died. Footsteps and shouted German voices echo from the tunnels behind her. Without thinking, she lunges forward and grabs the Spear. Her body jolts. Her eyes widen - a vision floods in: cities in flames, swastika banners flying over London and Moscow, Allied soldiers gunned down in the streets. At the center of it all: Krieger, cloaked in black, Spear in hand, standing atop a mountain of skulls. Anais screams and drops the Spear, collapsing to the floor, gasping. Krieger arrives seconds later. He lifts the Spear with both hands, reverent. As he grips it tightly, his posture shifts - taller, more imposing. His pupils narrow and red, his veins pulse. He snaps a rifle in half like a twig to show off his new power.
Easy Company regroups in a dark chamber off the main vault. Mason helps Anais sit up while Jackie and Shapiro argue nearby. Shapiro insists that if the Spear of Destiny is real - and it works how the rumors state - they could use it to end the war tonight - no more bodies, no more bullets. Jackie shakes his head, suggesting that kind of power always comes with a cost - if they turn the spear over to the wrong hands, they'd just be trading one war for another. Mason chimes in, saying that should just let Sgt. Rock decide what they do. Kiyahani nods in agreement with Mason. All eyes shift to Rock. He tells them that they finish the mission - that's it.
Anais rushes into the chamber to find Alain crouched beside a stone pillar, rigging explosives. She steps forward to help, but he stops her. He tells her to get out of the chamber at once - he's going to bury the Spear under a mountain of rubble. She hesitates. He asks her to tell France that he died a sober man - even if it's a lie. As he triggers the detonation, Anais runs. The chamber erupts in fire and stone.
Easy Company regroups near the surface, smoke rising from the shattered vault below. Shapiro scans the tree line. Jackie reloads in silence. Everyone looks shaken. Anais scrambles up from the tunnel, bruised and breathless. Rock meets her halfway. She tells them Krieger has the Spear - that he felt unstoppable, like something had changed in him. But she saw the chamber collapse, saw Krieger buried in it. She thinks the blast took him out. The squad exchanges tense looks. Mason breaks the silence: “Think” isn’t good enough. Rock stares at the rubble, expression hardening.
A deep rumble shakes the ground. From the dust and fractured stone, Krieger emerges, the Spear of Destiny gripped tight. Easy Company opens fire, but nothing slows him. He marches forward through the gunfire, shrugging off bullets. Krieger lunges, grabs Rock, and the two crash through a broken floorplate - tumbling into the shattered remains of the lower crypt. In the ruins, Krieger tosses Rock like a doll against stone columns. Rock staggers, bloody and breathless, but manages to pull a grenade from his belt. He slams it against Krieger’s back and dives clear. The blast knocks Krieger into a support beam, and the ceiling groans above him. The Spear clatters from his hand. As debris starts to fall, Rock kicks the Spear across the floor, just out of reach. A massive stone pillar gives way and collapses - crushing Krieger beneath it. Moments later, Rock claws his way out of the rubble, battered but alive.
The rest of Easy Company rigged the remaining ruins with charges. As they detonate, the entire mountaintop collapses inwards - sealing the Spear under tonnes of stone, buried where no one will ever find it again. They all look to each other relieved that the fight is over.
Back at Allied Command Easy Company stand around awaiting what comes next. Rock is called into an office by himself. He is told that the relic and its destruction did not exist, Easy Company were only sent to take out Krieger. Rock nods understanding. Rock is offered a promotion, he immediately declines. He is not interested in an officer position, insisting that he keeps Sgt. Rock. As Rock is inside, Anais is getting around to French forces and begins spreading word of her uncle's heroics. She adds that he died not only as a hero, but a sober one at that. They all believed the hero part, but definitely not the sober side of the story.
Hitler is furious that his plans to secure the Spear of Destiny have been thwarted. He vows to everyone in his cabinet that this will not be the end of the Third Reich, merely the beginning.
Outside camp Rock sits alone, silent. Anais approaches him quietly. She jokes that not one of them believed that her uncle was sober. A silent smile comes upon Rock’s face. They talk quietly about everything that happened, although it really doesn't exist. Anais smiles, Rock seems to have opened up slightly, less uptight. She kisses him before walking away, looking back and smiling.
