In the Grey Review: A Fine Action Showcase for Cavill and Gyllenhaal Never Exceeds Expectation

There is a consistency to the Guy Ritchie movie experience that has helped define his career. In The Grey arrives with little fanfare, yet still plays with some of the conventions that helped turn Ritchie into a household name. While crime capers and heists helped define his career, Ritchie has evolved into the consummate professional in the director’s chair. While he’s not hitting the highs that he did with his hits, Ritchie rarely falls into disaster territory now. In The Grey feels fairly workmanlike in this regard, but is unlikely to leave most satisfied with their experience.

What is In The Grey about?

Hired to recover a billion dollars from a crime lord, Rachel Wild (Eiza González) brings together her covert-ops team. Her two best mercenaries, Sid (Henry Cavill) and Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal), quickly put together a team and follow her lead. The crime lord, Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem), seems untouchable on his private island, but together the three operatives infiltrate the target.

However, to get the money, Rachel is going to need every trick up her sleeve. While trying to keep her boss happy, Bobby (Rosamund Pike) accidentally intensifies the danger for everyone. Are Sid and Bronco able to turn the tide against the forces surrounding their team? Or is Rachel in danger like never before?

Guy Ritchie shoots the action well, but the dialogue suffers.

In the Grey is another top-heavy movie for Guy Ritchie. For the trio at the top of the call sheet, there’s no doubt they’re having fun. Henry Cavill continues to show off his excellence as a joyous, gentle giant who can become the most deadly man in the room. Gyllenhaal plays up his oddity. While it can occasionally come off like a discount Ryan Gosling, Gyllenhaal can flip the switch and own the screen at a moment’s notice. In The Grey does not give him the zaniness of Okja or Ambulance, but he still has plenty to do.

Meanwhile, González is somewhat left behind by In the Grey. She’s not bad, but mostly delivers her dialogue in ADR, off-screen rat-a-tat features. González can be integral to a movie, as many will see in I Love Boosters in just a few weeks. There is one moment where González is incredibly effective at showing her vulnerability. However, the other “outbursts” she has felt contrived. Worse, it feels as if she’s sleepwalking through a couple of these moments.

The rest of the cast is seemingly here to be old-school red shirts. Kojo Attah is alluring but still has nothing to do in the movie. Fisher Stevens was brilliant for years on Succession and is seemingly only here to play a skeezy lawyer. Even Rosamund Pike has nothing to do but sit in a boardroom. We literally see her working out on a StairMaster in the same room. It’s the definition of “we had her for one day,” and In the Grey just rolls with it. The rest of the team has so few standout scenes that I frankly struggled to remember their names. Actors Jason Wong, Emmett J. Scanlan, Michael Vu, and Christian Ochoa Lavernia all deserved better.

While Acts 1 and 2 are set up in a way to pay off a big set piece, In the Grey instead finds its way into the payoff through the most convoluted ways possible. It’s as if the movie needs you to know that Gyllenhaal and Cavill are too good. They can’t lose. With them around, González will never get caught. Needless to say, there also needs to be some tension, which eventually turns the final act into a “rescuing the damsel in distress” sequence. These moments have more in common with Bad Boys II and Fate of the Furious than you’d hope.

The humor is pretty snappy and fun throughout most of In The Grey. It contains plenty of slang and asides, which are somewhat undercut by the on-screen text that accompanies them. We don’t need a literal translator for Gylennhaal to run through a weapons list, but don’t worry, there’s one anyway. Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the screenplay is the use of queer sex as the punchline a few too many times. This is, regrettably, the most early-2000s thing about this action flick, with the insecurity and repetitive nature of the jokes still intact.

To wrap it all up, there is some atrocious CGI in this movie. At one point, a helicopter goes down, only for the explosion to occur offscreen and a black billow of smoke to rise from the corner of the frame. This is the kind of effect that stands out when the rest of the film can convey the tactile nature of the world.

Is In the Grey worth watching?

No, sadly, as I thought more about In the Grey, it’s just an imperfect action flick. There are moments that are fun, because ultimately, you have Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill keeping things entertaining. However, Cavill and Gyllenhaal have both been better, especially when working with Guy Ritchie. Some bad effects and poor production (with way too much ADR) drag this one down. With the heist elements paying off and Ritchie shooting the action well, we had enough of a good time to surpass the year’s more lackluster action showcases. However, that’s a low bar.

In the Grey opens May 15, 2026. Black Bear distributes.

In the Grey Review: A Fine Action Showcase for Cavill and Gyllenhaal Never Exceeds Expectation