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 have a soft spot for cheesy YA action flicks and can tolerate wooden dialogue for the sake of occasionally solid fight scenes, this is a passable time-killer. If you're looking for anything approaching the sophistication of actual spy thrillers or can't stomach CW-level teen drama masquerading as serious action, skip this discount bin disappointment.
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
