Film
Ava
Ava is a taut action thriller about a lethal contract killer whose world collapses when a mission goes sideways. Jessica Chastain is magnetic as the titular assassin, all coiled tension and lethal grace. It's a sleek, propulsive ride—not high art, but expertly crafted entertainment that knows exactly what it is.
If you liked this
Atomic Blonde2017
Charlize Theron as a spy, executed with brutal choreography and genuine style. The action is visceral, the emotional core is real, and it moves like nothing else. A blueprint for how to make a female-led thriller without compromise.
But It doesn't break new ground narratively, and if you're looking for clever dialogue or character depth beyond the surface, you'll leave hungry.

Kill Bill: Vol. 12003
Uma Thurman as a woman making her way through a list of names. Tarantino's most purely pleasurable film—stylish, funny, visceral, and genuinely moving beneath the cartoon violence. A landmark that still sings.
But The aesthetic is so strong it can overwhelm the story, and some of the gear-shift tones don't land. Also deeply expensive-looking in a way that dates it.

Point Break1991
Two perfect leads, impossible stunts, and Kathryn Bigelow directing like her life depends on it. The action is breathtaking, the homoerotic tension is electric, and it never stops moving. Pure adrenaline cinema.
But The plot is genuinely thin if you're paying attention to it. You have to surrender to the ride rather than think about it.

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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Nikita1990
Ava is the spiritual descendant of Nikita, but where Besson's original had poetry and vulnerability, Ava has efficiency and technique. Seeing Nikita first shows what the formula can do when it's chasing something deeper than survival.
Luc Besson's original: a street orphan turned into an assassin, and the template for every female-led action thriller that followed. Raw, stylish, moving, and genuinely surprising. It invented the template Ava works within.
But The pacing is languid by modern standards and the early 90s aesthetic is thick. The first half moves slowly. Some find its violence against women difficult, as it means to be.

More like this (8)
The Villainess2017
A South Korean thriller about a female assassin that's even more audacious than Ava. Visually stunning, structurally clever, and the action sequences are genuinely innovative. If you want Ava but stranger and sharper, this is it.
But The twisty plot requires attention and rewards repeat viewing. Some viewers find the style overwhelming. It's also much darker in register.

Haywire2011
Gina Carano as a spec-ops contractor betrayed and hunted. Soderbergh directs with minimalist elegance, the action is clean and real, and there's an understated intelligence running through it. Criminally underrated.
But It's deliberately restrained rather than explosive. If you want bombast and personality, you'll find it cold. Also features extended scenes of people walking and talking.

Red Sparrow2018
Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian ballerina turned spy, pulled into a world of manipulation and danger. It's a proper spy thriller with real stakes, intricate plotting, and Lawrence doing serious work. Genuinely tense and surprisingly smart.
But It's long, methodical, and sometimes slow-paced. The tone can feel cold. If you want action, there's less here than the premise suggests.

Gunpowder Milkshake2021
Karen Gillan, Michelle Yeoh, and a stacked cast of women in a stylised assassin thriller. It's inventive, visually playful, and has genuine warmth beneath the violence. Pure fun that earns it.
But The style is so thick it can smother the story. Some find the aesthetics precious. It doesn't have the grounded edge that makes Ava work.

The Long Kiss Goodnight1996
Geena Davis (who's also in Ava) as an amnesiac assassin uncovering her violent past. It's taut, clever, and Davis is magnificent—vulnerable and lethal in the same frame. An action film that thinks.
But 90s action filmmaking means dated effects and an ending that hinges on plot mechanics rather than character. Also genuinely violent in ways that haven't aged to everyone's comfort.

Anna2019
Sasha Luss as a Russian spy, and Luc Besson operating at peak control of pace and visual language. It's slick, propulsive, and the twists actually work. A master class in economical filmmaking.
But It's all surface and machinery—nothing underneath asks to be felt. Some find Besson's style sterile. The emotional core is missing entirely.

Brick2006
Both films are tight, self-contained, and built from pure craft and precision. Neither wastes a frame or an idea. Brick proves that style and emotional truth aren't opposites when you know what you're doing. Ava has the style; Brick has both.
Rian Johnson's debut: a high school noir where a teenager investigates his ex-girlfriend's murder. It's formally brilliant, genuinely gripping, and sounds like a gimmick but is deeply felt. A complete vision from a young director.
But It's a genre exercise first—if you're not interested in film form and structure, it can feel cold and distant. The dialogue is dense with its own argot. It's elliptical rather than clear.

Widows2018
Both are about competent women operating in dangerous systems, but Widows asks bigger questions about complicity, power, and what it costs to survive. Ava accepts its world; Widows interrogates it. Watching together shows the difference between a thriller and something with something to say.
Steve McQueen's heist film about four women executing a dangerous plan. It's formally audacious, politically alive, and utterly gripping. McQueen builds moral weight and visual sophistication into what could be a genre exercise, and it sings.
But It's dense, layered, and refuses to simplify. The ending is ambiguous in ways that frustrate people wanting closure. It's much more a McQueen film than a heist film, which some find pretentious.

People
Cast

John MalkovichDuke
CommonMichael
Colin FarrellSimon
Geena DavisBobbi
Jess WeixlerJudy
Ioan GruffuddPeter
Diana SilversCamille
Joan ChenToni
Efka KvaraciejusAlain
Christopher J. DomigGunther
Michel MullerTeddy
Directing
- Tate TaylorDirector
- Brett RobinsonFirst Assistant Director
- David Allen CluckFirst Assistant Director
- Jenna DaytonScript Supervisor
- Stephen TurroSecond Second Assistant Director
Writing
- Matthew NewtonScreenplay
Production
- Ashley LambertADR Voice Casting
- Ranjani BrowADR Voice Casting
- Wendy HoffmannADR Voice Casting
- Justine FollansbeeArt Department Production Assistant
- Julia SolomonCasting Assistant
- Rachel GoldmanCasting Assistant
- Joey MontenarelloCasting Associate
- Roya SemnanianCasting Associate
- Lindsey WeissmuellerCasting Director
- Neely EisensteinCasting Director
- Babacar DieneCo-Producer
- Narine GaribyanCo-Producer
- Erika HampsonExecutive Producer
- John NorrisExecutive Producer
- Jonathan DeckterExecutive Producer
- William EaronExecutive Producer
- Marina Clarke PaolinoExtras Casting
- Molly OliverExtras Casting
- Aaron KahlLocal Casting
- Ashley SkomurskiLocal Casting
- Julie Arvedon KnowltonLocal Casting
- Joaquin Diego PrangeLocation Manager
- Dominic RustamProducer
- Jessica ChastainProducer
- Kelly CarmichaelProducer
- Nicolas ChartierProducer
- Mariarosa CalderonProduction Accountant
- Laura CalcagniProduction Coordinator
- Ramses del HierroProduction Supervisor