Review of Guy Ritchie's In The Grey. Another masterpiece?

In the Grey is a new crime film by Guy Ritchie starring Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead roles. It's a somewhat old-fashioned heist movie that stands out from similar pictures thanks to an unusual concept and the director's signature style. But does this approach still hold up in 2026? That's exactly what we explore in this article.

Guy Ritchie first rose to worldwide fame in the late 90s with his debut feature Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He's still actively making films today, though the results are far from consistent. The director's filmography includes loud misfires like Fountain of Youth and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, solid gangster dramas such as The Gentlemen, and decent series like MobLand and Young Sherlock. Ritchie's portfolio is genuinely varied — Disney remakes, a Sherlock Holmes reinvention, war films — yet he doesn't always manage to fully realize his own vision.

This time Ritchie returns to a classic genre: the heist film. Movies about a group of people trying to rob a bank or outwit a billionaire have been around since the 1940s, rooted in classic film noir. And though the golden age of noir is long gone, directors keep coming back to the genre. The ones that stick in the memory are polished efforts like Ocean's Eleven — a film that made our list of the 120 best movies of the last decade — or those based on real events, like The Bank Job. If you want a refresher on what’s worth watching, check out our TOP with 120 Best Movies of Recent Years — it features only tried-and-true films with personal recommendations from our editorial team.

In the Grey has an interesting hook: the team's primary weapon is legal firepower rather than brute force. Rachel, played by Eiza González, goes after oligarch Manny Salazar through lawyers, hackers and surveillance, freezing his assets and forcing him to panic and move funds. Only when that fails does violence enter the picture — because men like Salazar don't give up a billion dollars without a fight. It's a genuinely fresh angle for a heist movie.

The ending is fairly standard. It wraps things up and leaves audiences with a light smile, though it's frustrating that many key moments are left offscreen — the fate of several characters remains a mystery.

The main villain is surprisingly underwhelming. Salazar is introduced as a ruthless man with the best lawyers money can buy and a private army at his disposal, yet he falls apart on every front almost immediately. It becomes hard to understand how he ever reached a position where he commands billions of dollars.

Any story can be told compellingly or tediously. Here, Ritchie makes a puzzling choice: for much of the runtime, we're not shown what the characters are doing — we're told about it through voiceover and choppy visuals. It feels like the director is trying to squeeze a much longer story into a 97-minute running time.

Yet a lot of time is spent on elaborate mission prep, escape rehearsals and minor details like how to cross a shallow ditch. The imbalance is hard to justify. Sharp dialogue could have saved things, but there isn't much of it. Ritchie's direction itself is solid enough — you can tell immediately who made this film — and the location shooting on a beautiful tropical island is genuinely appealing.

In the second half, legal maneuvering gives way to straightforward action: shootouts and chases. It's decent, but lacks the inventiveness that, say, the John Wick franchise made the genre standard.

The cast is an unquestionable asset. But for all his charm, Henry Cavill — who was so good in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare — simply has nothing to play here. The same goes for Jake Gyllenhaal. As for the striking Eiza González, she spends the entire film wearing an unreadable expression — even when her character is in mortal danger.

The result is another passable entry. It's meaningfully better than Fountain of Youth — there's at least a genuine idea at its core — but the execution lets it down. It's a decent enough film for an evening, as long as you don't go in expecting much. And once again Guy Ritchie has confirmed his reputation as the most inconsistent director working today.

For more recommendations on what's worth watching, check out our TOP of the best overlooked films of 2024.

How would you rate this film? Let us know in the comments.