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Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim, Alexander Ludwig, Antony Starr, Emily Beecham, Jonny Lee Miller
OUR RATING: ★★★★☆
Story:
Action-thriller directed and co-written by Guy Ritchie. The Covenant (2023) follows Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal), who on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan is teamed with local interpreter, Ahmed (Dar Salim), to survey the region. When their unit is ambushed on patrol, Kinley and Ahmed are the only survivors and with enemy combatants in pursuit, Ahmed risks his own life to carry an injured Kinley across miles of grueling terrain to safety. Once back on US, Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given passage to America as promised. Determined to protect his friend, and repay his debt, Kinley returns to the war zone to retrieve Ahmed and his family before the local militias reach them first.
Best Quotes
Desk Sergeant: [to John, referring to Ahmed] You see that bald one with the beard? I’d bite that one. Now, he speaks four languages that are worth speaking. He can be kind of tricky though. He won’t be pushed around. Some units don’t like him, you know, they won’t work with him.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Why do you want this job?
Ahmed: I need the money, sir.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Are you good with cars?
Ahmed: Anything with an engine.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Oh, yeah? Well, what’s this?
Ahmed: That’s an engine, sir.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Are you patronizing me, Ahmed?
Ahmed: No. No. I would never patronize an officer, sir.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Well, Akhmed, this is unit specializes in finding Taliban munitions and explosive sites. Basically, we get into trouble. Sadly, we lost our last interpreter.
Ahmed: Understood. And it’s “Ahmed”, sir.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Oh. Well, it’s “sergeant”, not “sir”.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Don’t disappoint and turn out to be a pain in the a**.
Ahmed: No. Not me, sir.
Ahmed: You know, if you’re looking for weapons, you are not going to find any here.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Oh, yeah? How do you know?
Ahmed: I know what goes on behind these doors.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Ah. The Oracle doth speak.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: What’s he saying?
Ahmed: He says your intel is poo-poo.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Oh, another Oracle.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: How come you know so much about what cooks here?
Ahmed: I’m a man about town.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: So, this is how you spend your lazy afternoons? You’re a dark horse, Ahmed.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Don’t lick, squeeze, or pop anything.
'The deal was that we offered his family sanctuary. Then we tied a noose around his neck, and we kicked the stool out from under him.' - Sergeant John Kinley (The Covenant) Click To Tweet
Master Sergeant John Kinley: What a quaint little house on the prairie. You and I could retire here, Jizzy.
Charlie ‘Jizzy’ Crow: And we can adopt a labradoodle and milk something.
Charlie ‘Jizzy’ Crow: You know, whatever they may say about us, Ahmed, we’re not all animals, apart from Chow Chow, of course.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: How do you like them apples, sir?
Colonel Vokes: I love these goddamn apples, John.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: We keep going out and achieving nothing. I keep putting my men in constant danger. It just feels like we’re moving sand around a sandbox.
Colonel Vokes: Do it your way.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: I don’t think you’ll like my way.
Colonel Vokes: I don’t think it’s important whether I like it or not. Especially if I don’t know about it.
'Do you think if I could be shot of this debt, I wouldn't be? Do you think if I could just go through the usual channels, I wouldn't? That is not how this debt works. It demands a result, not an appeasement.' - Sergeant John Kinley Click To Tweet
Sergeant Declan O’Brady: I feel used by you, John. You only ever want me for my brains.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Oh. It’s not like you’re a generous lover.
Sergeant Declan O’Brady: Well, that’s because you never bought me dinner first. And, no, I did not come through. It took me years to get these stripes, and I’m not peeling them off for you.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: You always play hard to get.
Sergeant Declan O’Brady: All you got to do is chase me.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Tell him that this could go one of two ways. The money way, or the other way.
Ahmed: He’s not too keen to help.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: That it?
Ahmed: Pretty much, yes.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Give him some lube.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: [as they toss money and suit at Faraj] Carrot. Stick.
'I am going to get that man and his family out of the position that we put him in. And of that, I have no doubt.' - Sergeant John Kinley (The Covenant) Click To Tweet
Faraj: [in Dari] If you cut the Taliban’s head off here it will grow back someplace else.
Eduardo ‘Chow Chow’ Lopez: [referring to Ahmed] They used to work with the Taliban.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: So then, why is he working for us?
Eduardo ‘Chow Chow’ Lopez: Because the Talis killed his son.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Why the f*** didn’t you tell me this before?
Eduardo ‘Chow Chow’ Lopez: It’s the price of giving orders.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Don’t ever override my authority again.
Ahmed: I understood your objective. I apologize for my clumsy method.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: So, we understand each other?
Ahmed: Yes, Sergeant.
Ahmed: Something’s wrong. There’s no logical reason for Haadee to lead us down this route, unless…
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Unless what?
Ahmed: Unless he’s leading us into a trap.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Well, that’s a pretty big assumption, Ahmed.
Ahmed: Deduction, not assumption.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Now you’re teaching me English?
Ahmed: I’ve been thinking about all the possible reasons why he’d take this route. All the answers smell bad.
'That's not how this contract works, brother. In three days, a warm body turns cold.' - Sergeant John Kinley (The Covenan) Click To Tweet
Ahmed: We just don’t want to go down this road.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: You’re out of your bounds, Ahmed. You’re here to translate.
Ahmed: Actually, I’m here to interpret.
Charlie ‘Jizzy’ Crow: [over radio] We’ve got a problem.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: What the f*** is it?
Charlie ‘Jizzy’ Crow: Looks like an ambush.
Colonel Vokes: [referring to Ahmed] Interpreter came through, huh?
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Just don’t know how wild he is.
Colonel Vokes: Yeah, well, he still saved eight people’s lives.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Yes, he did.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Nothing like a three-hour drive.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Ahmed, you stay here. We don’t need a translator for this.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: Where’s your f***ing gun?
Ahmed: Halfway up the hill.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: [gives him his gun] This belongs to you now. Just don’t lose it. You ready?
Ahmed: Following you, boss.
Ahmed: [after he rescues the badly wounded John] John. We’re going home. It’s going to be a long journey.
Local Man: [to Ahmed] They will not stop hunting you.
Sergeant Declan O’Brady: Heard they’re giving you a medal, Distinguished Service Cross.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: That was quick.
Sergeant Declan O’Brady: Well, you did crawl on your hands and knees over broken glass for a hundred clicks, so.
Master Sergeant John Kinley: If I did, I don’t remember any of it.
Trailer: