All the Old Knives (2022)

All the Old Knives is the kind of spy thriller that dares to be intimate: instead of car chases and gadgetry, it builds its suspense across a dinner table, where every glance and half-finished sentence feels like a loaded weapon. Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton have the sort of lived-in chemistry that makes the romance and the mistrust equally believable, and the film’s pleasure comes from watching two smart people circle the truth with velvet gloves and clenched fists. Janus Metz keeps the vibe sleek, adult, and quietly nerve-racking, letting sharp dialogue and moral ambiguity do the heavy lifting as the past bleeds into the present. If you want nonstop action, this may feel restrained, but if you like your espionage stories grounded, talky, and emotionally bruising, it’s an engrossing watch.

All the Old Knives wants to be a sleek, grown-up spy thriller built on regret, betrayal, and the tension of two ex-lovers circling the truth over a long conversation. The problem is it plays more like a slow, dialogue-heavy relationship postmortem with espionage window dressing, so if you’re expecting sharp twists, momentum, or pulse-raising set pieces, you’ll likely find it predictable and frustratingly restrained. Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton do solid work selling the history and hurt, and the central “who sold us out?” hook is inherently watchable, but the film rarely cashes in on its premise with the bite it promises. If you enjoy talky, moody spy dramas and don’t mind a deliberate pace, it’s serviceable; if you want a real thriller, your time is probably better spent elsewhere.