Guy Ritchie's The Covenant [Blu-ray]

Overview

John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal), a sergeant in the United States Army, embarks on his final tour of duty in Afghanistan after years of serving his country. Yet his last quest proves ill-fated as he suffers a substantial injury at the hands of his enemy. It is then up to his partner, a local interpreter named Ahmed (Dar Salim), to deliver John to safety while crossing the treacherous, war-torn Afghan landscape. Guy Ritchie co-writes and directs the war thriller. Co-starring Alexander Ludwig and Jonny Lee Miller.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/20/2023
UPC:	0883929812196
Original Release:	2023
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Language:	English

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jake Gyllenhaal	Sergeant John Kinley
Dar Salim	Ahmed
Alexander Ludwig	Actor
Sean Sagar	Charlie 'Jizzy' Crow(as Sean Sager)
Emily Beecham	Actor
Jason Wong	Joshua 'JJ' Jung
Rhys Yates	Tom 'Tom Cat' Hancock
Christian Ochoa Lavernia	Eduardo 'Chow Chow' Lopez(as Christian Ochoa)
Bobby Schofield	Steve Kersher
Jonny Lee Miller	Colonel Vokes
Reza Diako	Haadee
James Nelson-Joyce	Jack 'Jack Jack' Jackson(as James Nelson Joyce)
Fariba Sheikhan	Basira
Gary Anthony Stennette	Desk Sergeant(as Gary Stennette)
Saboor Sahak	Afghan Man
Antony Starr	Eddie Parker
Abbas Fasaei	Pooya
Hadi Khanjanpour	Edris
Ash Goldeh	Faraj
Walid Shahalami	Kalan
Babrak Akbari	Lashkar
Savannah Fort	Jess,Lil Chris
Javid Hakim	Ismail
Shoaib Lodin	Afghan Miner
Marcus Glimne	Medic
Javier Ramos	Archangel

Technical Credits

Ivan Atkinson

Guy Ritchie

Marn Davies

John Friedberg	Producer
Ivan Atkinson	Producer,Screenwriter
Josh Berger	Producer
Guy Ritchie	Screenwriter,Producer,Director
Marn Davies	Screenwriter
Olga Filipuk	Executive Producer
Adam Fogelson	Executive Producer
Robert Simonds	Executive Producer
Samantha Waite	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

Guy Ritchie's the Covenant may never hit the emotional highs that it sets out to achieve, but it is an intense ride. Packed to the brim with action and tension, the film flies by, making the 123-minute run time feel minuscule. The film is made with only one purpose in mind - to shed light on the thousands of Afghan interpreters left behind after the U.S. pulled out of the country. In this vein, The Covenant acts as a powerful call to action, and although the story is not a true one, you could be forgiven if you believed that it was. Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) leads a special task force in Afghanistan with the sole purpose of finding hidden weapon facilities. Every U.S. unit is given an Afghani interpreter to travel with them and help them converse with the locals. In return, the interpreters are promised U.S. Visas and safe passage into America. When a bomb goes off during a routine checkpoint, Kinley's squad loses their beloved interpreter. In finding a replacement, they turn to a rough-around-the-edges local by the name of Ahmed (Dar Salim), who proves to be much more valuable to the squad than ever imagined. Although the film is packed with action, there are some aspects that don't quite hit as hard. The relationship between Kinley and Ahmed is complicated, but at the end of the day, it feels like it was all business. Gyllenhaal and Salim work well together on screen, but neither delivers a spectacular performance. One gets the feeling that the acting came secondary to the epic scope of everything else. The story may be an exaggerated version of what really happened in Afghanistan, but the fact remains that these interpreters were highly useful and completely forgotten about after the war. They risked their lives for the promise of future safety, something that many have not received. The criticisms should be taken with a grain of salt because this movie is thrilling. Every scene is packed with an edge-of-your-seat scenario, and never really lets up until the final credits roll. Ritchie absolutely gets his message across and does it through the lens of a very entertaining rescue story. The Covenant is a film that will surprise you; the plot isn't laid out how one might expect from the get-go, but it does not disappoint. This unlikely rescue story is a must-watch for fans of the genre. The fact that it sheds some light on a little-known repercussion of the war is just a bonus.