by; Tyler R. Letren

Argylle earns a solid four stars on editing alone. From a purely technical standpoint, this might be one of the most visually arresting action films in recent memory. The post-production is razor sharp, vibrant, bold, and unapologetically stylised. The colour grading pops, especially during the smoke grenade sequences, which explode across the screen like a paint-splattered ballet. There’s a climactic shootout where the characters seem to engage in a surreal, modern interpretive dance, all while bullets fly and smoke of every hue swirls around them. It’s absurd and brilliant.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Elly Conway, an introverted spy novelist who we later learn is actually a CIA agent named Rachel Kylle. After sustaining a brain injury, she was psychologically manipulated in the hospital by a criminal group, causing her to forget her true identity. The twist is ambitious, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Her transformation from writer to covert operative feels too forced. Even when the narrative repositions her as a more hardened, military-style persona, it’s hard to fully buy into the shift. The performance itself is memorable, but the emotional beats, especially the climactic kiss, lack conviction and feel mechanically inserted.

One of the film’s more intriguing psychological layers is the fact that Rachel, during her time as Elly, writes her fictional spy hero as a man. It’s a subtle but sharp narrative choice that hints at deeper identity fragmentation. Even in her dissociative state, she unconsciously writes herself into her stories but through the lens of a masculine ideal. It plays with the idea that traditional espionage heroism is still gendered and that even a woman capable of all the same feats might subconsciously frame herself through the safer, more accepted mold of a male protagonist. It’s clever, if underexplored.

That said, Argylle plays like a Mattel action movie brought to life, and in that regard, it’s a triumph. It’s a technicolor, over-the-top, full-throttle spectacle that’s hard not to admire. You don’t watch Argylle for realism; you watch it for the spectacle, and on that front, it absolutely delivers.