Guy Ritchie, the director of films like Snatch and Wrath of Man, and franchises like Sherlock Holmes and The Gentlemen, is getting much-deserved love on the streaming landscape. Though movies like Aladdin are obviously his most popular among audiences, the director’s newest streaming hit is one of his least successful movies at the box office. The action war epic climbing the streaming charts is actually Ritchie’s highest-rated movie ever.
Three years after its release, The Covenant (also known as Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant) is gaining traction on streaming, with FlixPatrol reporting that it’s jumping in and out of Hulu‘s list of most popular titles. Released in 2023, the film starring Jake Gyllenhaal failed to make a huge impact at the box office. It only grossed nearly $22 million against a hefty $55 million budget, and its transition from theatrical to digital streaming took less than three weeks.
However, the critical reception was entirely different from its box office fate. The Covenant has long been perceived as one of Ritchie’s best movies, and though audiences didn’t flock to theaters to catch it on the big screen, they showed their love on Rotten Tomatoes. Today, it sits at a whopping 98% on the audience score, while the critics’ score sits lower, at 82%. But as “low” as that score seems when compared to 98%, it is actually the director’s project with the highest ranking on the critics’ website.
‘The Covenant’ Is The Best Military Thriller in Years
The film follows Special Forces Sgt. John Kinley (Gyllenhaal) as he’s forced to deal with a new interpreter during a mission in Afghanistan. Ahmed (Dar Salim) had ties to the Taliban, but after they killed his son, he decided to defect. Kinley doesn’t entirely trust him, but after an ambush kills his entire unit and Ahmed saves him, Kinley decides he’ll do whatever it takes to help the translator.
To do so, he defies government authorities, who have decided Ahmed doesn’t deserve protection in the United States. Realizing he’s alone in the operation, Kinley goes on a high-risk mission to retrieve his new brother in arms and his family, as they’re all being hunted by the Taliban to ensure Ahmed pays for his betrayal.
Ritchie’s Outstanding Shift in Tone Results in a Highly Emotional Experience
The Covenant is a standout in the war genre – especially when it comes to modern war films, which often rely primarily on action. Nevertheless, the battle sequences are impressive, and Ritchie tones down his usual stylistic approach. It almost doesn’t feel like a Guy Ritchie joint, given the film’s conventional approach. Then again, this isn’t a regular action war movie. It is more of a drama with a conflict as a backdrop for its story.
But don’t get us wrong. The drama component is very well-written and quite strong in execution. It provides a powerful story backdrop to a movie that inevitably flows into a brilliant display of action tropes. This narrative device is not common in modern war films, regardless of whether they are based on true stories or not. In The Covenant, the emotional core feels essential, and without the more sober side of the story, it would be completely devoid of soul.