James Bond who? MGM Studios will eventually find their new 007, and multiplexes will be full when he does arrive on the big screen again. However, no shortage exists of espionage-fueled stories on the small screen with Slow Horses, The Day Of The Jackal, and Black Doves leading recent streaming trends. Soon, an upcoming movie stars Bridgerton‘s Phoebe Dynevor (who was phenomenal in Netflix’s Fair Play, if you’d like to see her in thriller mode now) and House of the Dragon baddie Rhys Ifans as a daughter-father duo who do not fare well within an international conspiracy.
That shouldn’t be too shocking, since that’s how these stories begin, but director Neil Burger (Limitless, Divergent, The Illusionist) promises a different arc in Inheritance, so let’s get down to it.
Plot
Dynevor portrays Maya, who begins the film reeling after her mother’s death. She falls into alcohol-soaked mourning but then falls in with her estranged father, only to learn that he was “once a spy.” Well, that’s not exactly in the past. As the movie’s trailer reveals, the two set up shop together, but Dad disappears, leaving Maya to embark upon a dangerous rescue mission.
The film features extensive action scenes, including Dynevor hanging over New York on a harness, and “I also almost got arrested for staying in character on the streets of New York and thinking I was in a ‘Borat’ movie.” This film is also sequel-minded, if audiences respond to the IFC Films project. Dynevor wants to see Maya “thriving” as “a wonderful spy,” if that tells you anything at all about what she “inherits” from Dad.
How is this film different than every other spy thriller out there right now? For starters, Burger shot the movie on an iPhone. As Dynevor told Indiewire, that “guerrilla” aesthetic made the movie “a unique experience and probably something I’ll never get to do again.” The production went globetrotting, and “[t]here was no wait time for camera set- ups, no makeup checks, or rehearsals. We’d arrive at the location and then immediately shoot as much as we could in the time that we had. It enabled us to travel with a small crew and have to stay in character a lot.”
In the same interview, Burger described his leading lady’s performance as entirely different than Bridgerton would lead you to believe. Maya is “witty and caustic and self-destructive and enterprising.” He added, “She had a toughness and a wit I hadn’t expected and I was completely sold. Since then I’ve seen how incredibly talented she is. Up until now, people have only seen a tiny sliver of what she’s capable of. ‘Inheritance’ will change that — people will be knocked out by her performance.”
Cast
Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans lead with appearances from Ciara Baxendale, Majd Eid, and more.
Release Date
Inheritance arrives on January 24, 2025.
Trailer
The full trailer promises a tense ride, not necessarily while calling it spying.