Movie Review: The Covenant (2023)

Posted on 05/18/2023 by Pisaries Creator

There are minor spoilers in this film. Most everything I mention is in the trailer.

It’s been a few years since I’ve watched a Guy Ritchie movie. The second biggest draw was Jake Gyllenhaal. You can tell he fully commits to the character as he has done with most of his movies. The Covenant centers around Master Sgt. John Kinley and his relationship with the translator he hires, Ahmed, after the previous one died. The screenplay was written by Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies. The Covenant was directed by Guy Ritchie. The running time is two hours an three minutes and is rated R. In addition to Ritchie and Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim plays Ahmed, Sean Sagar plays Charlie Crow, Jason Wong plays Joshua Jung, Rhys Yates plays Tom Hancock, Christian Ochoa Lavernia plays Eduardo Lopez, Bobby Schofield plays Steve Kersher, Jonny Lee Miller plays Col. Vokes, Alexander Ludwig plays Sgt. Declan O’Brady, Emily Beecham plays Caroline Kinley, James Nelson-Joyce plays Jack Jackson, Antony Starr plays Eddie Parker, and Reza Diako plays Haadee.

The Covenant essentially begins with Sgt. Kinley and his platoon on a mission in Afghanistan in 2018. Their mission doesn’t go as planned and he needs to rely on Ahmed if he is to survive. There’s a lot of mountain ranges to climb but somehow they manage to make it to safety. This is where Kinley and Ahmed go their separate ways. He goes back to his family in California. Ahmed stays in Afghanistan because that is what he calls home. All could be well, but the Taliban is hunting him continually. He has no choice but to move continuously with his family in order to stay alive. When Kinley is healed enough to walk on his own, he struggles with his guilt of leaving Ahmed behind. This propels him to go through any channels necessary to get Ahmed and his family the visas they were promised for helping the U.S. This film was fully engaging and even though there were a few scenes similar to previous ones, showing a different viewpoint, I wasn’t bothered by it. Even though this particular story is not based on an individual person, there is much truth to this film.

I rate The Covenant FOUR FINGERS and ONE THUMB at 98%.