The Internship
The brief
James Bamford's action thriller feels like a discount bin version of Red Sparrow crossed with a CW teen drama, complete with wooden performances from its young cast that make every emotional beat land with a thud. The fight choreography has moments of genuine intensity, but the pacing drags between set pieces as characters explain their motivations in exposition-heavy dialogue that sounds like it was written by committee. Lizzy Greene tries her best as the vengeful lead, but she's fighting an uphill battle against a script that treats its "secret assassin school" premise with all the gravitas of a Netflix YA adaptation. This is for people who thought the Nikita TV series needed more teenage angst and less coherent plotting.
The verdict
If you're a teen action fan who can overlook clunky dialogue and wooden acting for some decent fight scenes and a secret assassin school premise, this is a passable way to kill 90 minutes. If you expect quality writing, strong performances, or coherent pacing from your action thrillers, skip this discount bin attempt and rewatch Red Sparrow instead.
Watch with
- 👥 Action fans with low expectations
- ⚠️ Anyone seeking quality filmmaking
Heads up
- Frequent gun violence and assassin training (frequent)
- Child endangerment in flashback scenes (moderate)
- Graphic fight sequences and combat (moderate)
Credits
- Director
- James Bamford
- Cast
- Lizzy Greene, Megan Boone, Sky Katz, Philip Winchester, Alix Villaret, Ollie Roddy, Kaine Buffonge
Official synopsis
A CIA-trained assassin recruits other graduates from her secret childhood program, The Internship, to violently
The Double
Make a night of it
Pair this with You Were Never Really Here (2017)
Both feature trained assassins targeting corrupt systems with brutal precision.
Total runtime: 1h 31m + 1h 29m = 3h 0m
