My quick rating - 4.7/10. Infiltrate comes in hot, screaming action, moral conflict, and high-stakes espionage…and then immediately trips over its own shoelaces in the opening scene. We’re thrown into a flashback of Agent Lily Chen (Orphée Ladouceur-Nguyen) being interrogated, only for her to ditch the wedding ring and stroll straight into a drug deal like she’s grabbing groceries. No backup, no weapon, no plan. Bold strategy. Let’s see if it pays off.
Spoiler: it doesn’t. At least not logically.
The first thought that hits is how nobody in that room clocks her as a cop. Not one person. Either Lily Chen is the greatest undercover agent of all time, or these criminals collectively share one brain cell. Probably the latter. Still, the scene does give us a taste of what the movie actually does well. Action. When things inevitably go sideways, Chen fights her way out with some impressively brutal choreography. That leg shot? Yeah…you’ll feel that one.
From there, Infiltrate settles into its main groove - Chen being blackmailed into assassinating targets to save her kidnapped husband. It’s a setup we’ve seen countless times, and the film doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel. It barely rotates it. The plot is paper-thin, held together by a series of “just go with it” moments and a mysterious voice feeding her targets like it’s a violent podcast subscription.
What keeps things watchable is Ladouceur-Nguyen herself. She commits hard to the physicality of the role, and the fight scenes are where the movie actually wakes up. A notable scene is the fight sequence between the couple who have lost their minds, as if they wandered in from some erotic nightclub. It’s messy, plenty violent, and very entertaining to watch.
And yes. Finally, someone figured it out. The high heels come off and become weapons. It took long enough for action cinema to embrace that idea, but here we are, and it works.
The violence is crunchy in all the right ways. Bones snap, blood sprays, and hits feel like they hurt. If you’re here for Lily Chen wrecking people in increasingly creative ways, you’ll have a good time. If you’re here for story…maybe lower those expectations significantly.
Because when the film tries to elevate itself with a big twist, it stumbles again. The reveal leans into the now very tired “AI was behind it all” angle, and it feels more like a last-minute patch than a well-earned payoff. It doesn’t ruin the movie. It just doesn’t add anything meaningful either.
And then, just when you think it’s over, Infiltrate has the audacity to crack the door open for a sequel. Bold move for a film that barely justifies its own existence.
There is something here. Ladouceur-Nguyen proves she can absolutely carry an action film, and honestly, she deserves better material. Give her a tighter script, a smarter plan (please), and maybe a villain with more than basic programming, and you could have something genuinely great.
As it stands, Infiltrate is a messy but mildly entertaining beat-‘em-up. Come for the fights, stay despite the plot, and don't overthink the rest of it.
https://jackmeat.com/infiltrate-2026/
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