Guy Ritchie is a filmmaker and series creator whose prodigious busyness in terms of both workload and story approach has its compensations. It’s foolish to expect what is so rarely a part of Ritchie’s subset of heist movies, from early ones like “Snatch” a generation ago, through to his latest, “In the Grey.” In these films you won’t find much on the inside of what used to be known as “characters.” The surfaces, the outsides, are all. With “In the Grey,” you make your allowances as a viewer and stay focused on the threads, and the wristwatches.
The actor-models this time are all Ritchie alums. Jake Gyllenhaal starred in the 2023 Afghan war saga “The Convenant.” Henry Cavill headlined Ritchie’s “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (2015) and the WWII action outing “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” (2024). Eiza Gonzalez co-starred in the latter as well as Ritchie’s fantasy quest “Fountain of Youth” (2025).
“In the Grey” combines Ritchie’s penchant for inhuman levels of grace under pressure; honor and loyalty to your mates, even if the audience never learns the supporting mates’ names; and expository dumps delivered largely in voiceover. First up for voiceover duty is debt-collection ace and legal genius Rachel Wild (Gonzalez), hired by a ruthless Manhattan asset manager (Rosamund Pike, putting the “eel” in “steely”) to retrieve $1 billion borrowed and then stolen by an underworld kingpin (Carlos Bardem) whose private island is equipped with a private army.
