Argylle 2024

The film begins in Greece, where the sophisticated British spy Aubrey Argylle (Henry Cavill) is closing in on his target, a terrorist named LaGrange (Dua Lipa). After a brief dance, LaGrange’s assassins draw their guns on Argylle. He contacts his partner, Keira (Ariana DeBose), who uses her tech skills to find an escape route for him. However, outside, LaGrange corners them and shoots Keira in the chest. As Argylle tries to save her, he reaches out to his other associate, Wyatt (John Cena), to stop LaGrange from escaping. Wyatt catches LaGrange, and together he and Argylle interrogate her to uncover her employer’s identity. It turns out that she works for Fowler (Richard E. Grant), the same director who employed Argylle and Wyatt. LaGrange poisons herself before she can be taken in, leaving Argylle uncertain about whom he can trust.

The scene transitions to a book reading by Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), the author of the “Argylle” series. The previous events were actually the last chapter of the fourth book in her series. After answering some questions from the audience, Elly returns to her secluded cabin with her pet cat, Alfie, to begin writing the fifth book. She spends the evening writing, believing she has completed it before going to bed.

In the morning, Elly receives a call from her mother, Ruth (Catherine O’Hara), who stayed up all night reading the manuscript Elly had sent her. Ruth praises the book but criticizes the ending, calling it a “copout.” Determined to improve the conclusion, Elly starts drafting a new chapter, envisioning various scenarios to give Argylle a more satisfying resolution, but she struggles to come up with anything satisfactory.

Deciding to visit Ruth in Chicago for some assistance with finishing the book, Elly boards a train with her cat, Alfie. During the journey, she is approached by a man named Aiden Wilde (Sam Rockwell), who initially pretends to be a fan. He soon reveals that there are people on the train targeting her. Shortly after, a supposed “fan” armed with a knife disguised as a pen confronts Elly, prompting Aiden to leap into action. As he fights off the assassins, Elly tries to hide, imagining Argylle in Aiden’s place. Among the attackers is Carlos (Tomas Paredes), whom Elly recognizes from her book reading event. Aiden leads Elly to the end of the train, blasts the doors open, and parachutes out with her and Alfie. Elly passes out mid-air.

When Elly wakes up, she finds Aiden has cut his hair and brought her to a secluded cabin. He explains that the assassins are part of a nefarious organization called The Division, led by Director Ritter (Bryan Cranston). The Division believes Elly’s books predict real events related to their operations. They have already read her manuscript for the fifth book and are waiting for her to write the final chapter. Ritter is shown executing his Deputy Director (Rob Delaney) for failing to capture Elly and recover a Master File that could expose all Division agents. It is also revealed that the character Wyatt is based on Aiden, and Keira was a real person who actually died.

Aiden takes Elly and her cat, Alfie, to find an informant named Bakunin (Stanley Morgan), who was supposed to deliver the Master File. To locate Bakunin, Aiden persuades Elly to start writing the next chapter, which Ritter and his team monitor through recordings made by fans on their phones.

Following the clues, they arrive at an apartment believed to belong to Bakunin. Inside, they find a hidden compartment under the floorboards containing a book with information from Bakunin. As Division assassins converge on the building, Elly and Aiden hide under the floorboards. When the coast is somewhat clear, Aiden emerges and begins taking down the assassins. As more attackers arrive, Elly and Aiden escape to the roof and jump onto a dumpster below to make their getaway.

Aiden takes Elly to his London safe house. While he talks to his employer in the bathroom with the shower running, Elly overhears him saying that she “needs a bullet in her head.” Alarmed for her safety, she grabs Alfie and contacts Ruth, planning to flee to Chicago with her cat. Upon arrival, she reunites with Ruth, only for her father to show up—and it’s revealed to be Ritter. He starts rifling through Elly’s belongings just as Aiden arrives, warning Elly that these two are not her parents. Dropping the pretense, Ritter reveals that Ruth’s real name is Margaret Vogler. Vogler pulls a gun on Elly, but Aiden shoots her and knocks Ritter out, then rescues a terrified Elly, though they are forced to leave Alfie behind.

Aiden takes Elly to meet his employer, Alfred “Alfie” Solomon (Samuel L. Jackson). Here, Elly discovers that the “real Agent Argylle” is actually herself. Her books were not predictions but memories of her past life as a spy. Her true name is Rachel Kylle (Agent R. Kylle), and she lost her memory after a mission went wrong. Ritter and Vogler found Rachel before Aiden could, posing as her parents and convincing her she was an aspiring writer to document her thoughts and eventually bring her down. They hoped the latest book would reveal the Master File’s location. Shocked by this revelation, Elly is further stunned when Aiden engages her in combat, but she instinctively recalls her skills and manages to neutralize him.

Solomon informs Elly and Aiden that the Master File is held by a Division associate named Saba Al-Badr, also known as The Keeper (Sofia Boutella). The pair travel to Arabia, where Elly must embrace her former identity as Rachel. While waiting at Saba’s compound, Aiden starts dancing with Elly, reminding her that they used to be romantically involved. Saba meets with Elly alone, and Elly successfully impersonates Rachel, convincing Saba to hand over the Master File.

The Division tracks down Elly and Aiden, capturing them and bringing them aboard their large ship. Elly learns that she was once an asset of The Division. A flashback reveals that she had killed Bakunin and taken the Master File, with the resulting explosion from his apartment’s self-destruction causing her memory loss. To save herself, Elly shoots Aiden in the chest, making Ritter believe she is on their side. She also pretends not to care about Alfie, who is in Ritter’s custody. In reality, she strategically shoots Aiden so that the bullet misses his heart, with his survival dependent on quickly stopping the bleeding—a tactic she borrowed from a fan theory on how Keira could have survived. Aiden escapes, kills his captors, and rushes to help Elly.

Elly experiences one final hallucination of Argylle, who assures her that she always possessed his abilities. She then confronts Carlos and his goons, who are forced to cease gunfire when crude oil begins to leak. Recalling a memory of ice-skating, Elly attaches blades to her shoes and glides across the oil, slashing through the assassins before facing Carlos. Their fight ends with her throwing a knife into his heart. She proceeds to shoot the remaining assassins, and together with Aiden, they stylishly eliminate every villain on the ship.

Reaching the control room, they prepare to send the Master File to Solomon, but Ritter appears with a rifle aimed at them. Alfie leaps at Ritter, clawing at his face, which allows Aiden to shoot and kill him. Unfortunately, Alfie has damaged Ritter’s eyes, which are needed for a retinal scan to complete the upload. However, Aiden quickly finds an alternative method to finish the task.

The duo begin uploading the Master File to Solomon, but Vogler appears with a music box that mind-controls Elly into attacking Aiden, halting the upload. Aiden fights Elly reluctantly, nearly succumbing until a masked assailant jumps onto the ship and hits Vogler with a wrench. The music box drops and shatters, freeing Elly from its control. The assailant is revealed to be Keira, who survived her gunshot wound just as Aiden did. It turns out Keira was the one who proposed the survival theory to Elly. The trio, along with Alfie, complete the upload and escape the ship, which explodes, killing Vogler and any remaining enemies. Elly and Aiden finally share a kiss.

Elly resumes her role as an author and completes Book Five, giving Argylle a satisfying ending. During another reading at the bookstore, a fan asks about the characters’ fates after the story. Elly explains, “hypothetically,” that Solomon received high honors from the CIA for exposing The Division, Keira advanced in the tech field, and Elly and Aiden are together. Before she finishes, another fan, who resembles a nerdier version of Elly’s vision of Argylle, stands up to ask a question, hinting that Elly might have questions for him, leaving her intrigued.

During the credits, a flashback from 20 years earlier shows a young Argylle (Louis Partridge) entering a pub, seemingly working with the Kingsman agency, indicating they exist in the same universe. The text then teases “Argylle: Book One,” announcing a film adaptation of Elly’s first novel coming soon.