Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Bryan Cranston, Sofia Boutella, Ariana DeBose, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story: Apple TV+ fantasy spy action thriller directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Jason Fuchs. Argylle (2024) follows Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books, which center on secret agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate, begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by Aiden (Sam Rockwell), a cat-allergic spy, Elly races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.
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Argylle: The greater the spy, the bigger the lie.
LaGrange: I certainly hope you dance as well as you dress.
Argylle: There’s only one way to find out.
LaGrange: How I wish you were here to capture my heart, not simply to capture me, Agent Argylle.
Argylle: [to LaGrange] Who told you that we were coming? Who?
Wyatt: [points his gun at LaGrange] You don’t answer, you’re going to be the same temperature as my coffee right now. Which thanks to you, is ice-cold.
LaGrange: It seems we serve the same master.
Elly Conway: I think when something like that happens to you, it makes you realize that tomorrow isn’t promised. And that if you can’t find the time, you have to make the time to do the things that are important to you.
Ruth: What happens next?
Elly Conway: It’s called a cliff-hanger, Mother.
Ruth: Elly, it’s called a cop-out.
Elly Conway: I am in a relationship.
Ruth: You are? With who?
Elly Conway: A relationship with my work.
Ruth: What is the point of success if you have no one to enjoy it with?
Elly Conway: You know, when you’re passionate about what you do…
Aidan Wilde: You never work a day in your life. Ain’t that the truth?
'Regret for time wasted is wasting more time.' - Director Ritter (Argylle) Share on X
Elly Conway: What is it you do?
Aidan Wilde: Espionage.
Aidan Wilde: [to Elly] Oh, not what you expected a spy to look like, huh? Well, yeah. In fairness, that is just about the only thing your books get wrong. A male model in a bespoke Nehru jacket with a stupid haircut tends to stand out on a train, as opposed to everyone else in this car. Them you don’t notice.
Aidan Wilde: It’s a real beard, you d**k.
Aidan Wilde: It’s time. It’s bear hug o’clock. Enjoy the ride!
Aidan Wilde: [to Elly] Somehow, you wrote a story that’s still unfolding as we speak.
Director Ritter: He would only kill if it was absolutely necessary for food, or to vanquish an enemy, or to eliminate an incompetent imbecile.
Elly Conway: This isn’t happening.
Aidan Wilde: Yeah, it is. It’s definitely happening.
Aidan Wilde: I’m a spy. Spies lie. It’s part of the gig. That and killing people.
Elly Conway: Well, that’s really reassuring.
Bakunin: I mean, these lot make Darth Vader look like Mary Poppins.
Aidan Wilde: The chances of you dying in a plane crash are like one in eleven million. Chances if you stay here, and let the Division find you, not so good. Right now, that plane is your best friend.
Aidan Wilde: Had to bring the cat.
Elly Conway: What did you expect me to do? Leave him to fend for himself? Come on!
Aidan Wilde: He’d be fine. Cat ladies always die alone. The cats figure it out.
Elly Conway: And what’s your problem with my cat exactly? He’s really cute. He’s cuddly. He’s loyal. He’s kind.
Aidan Wilde: Oh, please. You suddenly drop dead, that cat’s chewing your ears off within forty-eight hours max.
Elly Conway: Which with you around, gets more likely by the minute.
Elly Conway: I don’t dance. I don’t crush skulls.
Aidan Wilde: Well, then this should be a fun new experience for you.
Aidan Wilde: Look, trust me. Look where I’ve gotten you so far.
Elly Conway: Yeah, cornered on a roof, about to be killed.
Aidan Wilde: Okay. Fair point.
Elly Conway: “This too shall pass.” No. I know. But I sort of think this one might not pass as easily.
Aidan Wilde: [to Elly, referring to Ruth] That’s not your mother. That woman just tried to blow your brains out. Who’s the only person who hasn’t tried to kill you in the last seventy-two hours? Intentionally.
Aidan Wilde: Tell you what, French people, they give me the crêpes. Get it? Crêpes?
Alfie: Elly Conway, it’s time for you to meet the real agent Argylle. Those books you write? Aidan told you they were predictions. Well, they’re not. They’re memories of who you truly are. Welcome back, Agent R. Kylle.
Aidan Wilde: [to Elly] You started to write a novelization of your real life. We just had to sit back and watch it play out.
Alfie: According to the Koran, to keep another’s secret is a divinely mandated duty. To divulge it, an unholy sin.
Elly Conway: I am losing my mind.
Alfie: You are not losing your mind. You are finding it.
Alfie: Let’s get you two suited and booted. And if you can’t remember the reality, I suggest you both dress like the fantasy.
Aidan Wilde: Alcohol and keeping secrets don’t pair well together.
Aidan Wilde: When I tell you the second I saw you on that train, that’s been the toughest part.
Elly Conway: What has?
Aidan Wilde: Pretending not to love you, kid. Hardest mission of my life.
Saba Al-Badr: When your job is to keep secrets, you learn to spot a lie.
Aidan Wilde: Elly Conway, that person, that’s not all pretend, you know. They can’t erase that person. All that goodness, that’s in you. That’s who Elly Conway is, and that’s who you are.
Aidan Wilde: Well, if we’re going to go out with a bang, let’s go out with a bang, you know what I mean?
Aidan Wilde: [to Elly] I know you can’t hear me, but I love you. Always have. Always will. Okay, babe, you got this. Twist and crush.
Elly Conway: And as for Argylle and Wyatt, they’re partners. So whatever it is they do next, I’m sure they’d do it the way they did everything else. Together.
Aubrey Argylle: [mid-credit lines, as he’s revealed to be a Kingsman agent] Cosmopolitan with a twist, please.
Bartender: Does it look like we’re in a club or a pub?