My quick rating - 5.8/10. Another big-budget Netflix exclusive, this time starring Gal Gadot. Nice scenery to start this one off. Is it just me, or does Netflix seem to enjoy throwing money at snow lately? Heart of Stone takes us on a thrilling ride through a world of espionage, danger, and deception, led by Gal Gadot doing her usual thing where she looks like she belongs in every frame no matter what is going on around her.
As the big budget allows, the flick boasts some genuinely stunning visuals and solid action sequences that will keep you engaged from start to finish. The opening in the snowy mountains immediately sets a sense of scale and “yes, this definitely cost a lot to film.” The landscapes are doing a lot of work here, and to be fair, they’re pretty great at it.
Gal Gadot plays Rachel Stone, an intelligence operative caught in a web of intrigue, betrayal, and people making questionable life choices in high-security organizations. Her on-screen presence and physicality really shine in the action scenes, and she sells the role well enough that you mostly stop questioning how she’s still standing after everything she goes through. Rachel Stone is strong, resourceful, and constantly in situations where I would’ve simply retired and moved somewhere quiet halfway through.
The plot revolves around a global peacekeeping organization and its prized asset, which of course means everyone immediately wants it. Because that’s how these things always work. The narrative keeps things moving with plenty of twists, turns, and betrayals. At some point I stopped tracking loyalties and just accepted that nobody here is trustworthy for more than about ten minutes at a time.
While the action scenes are definitely a strong point, the film does try to sprinkle in emotional beats for the characters. Gadot adds some vulnerability to Rachel Stone alongside the determination, and Jamie Dornan does bring a bit more edge to his role than I expected. The supporting cast is solid too, even if some of the “character moment” scenes feel like the movie briefly remembering it has feelings before quickly going back to explosions.
Visually, Heart of Stone does a really good job balancing icy landscapes with the fiery chaos of everything else happening. The cinematography and production design make it feel polished and global in scale. It’s one of those movies where every location looks like it’s trying to outdo the last one, and it mostly works.
That said, the pacing does wobble a bit here and there, and some plot developments are definitely living in familiar spy-thriller territory. You’ll recognize the beats if you’ve seen even a handful of these, but it moves fast enough that you don’t really get stuck on it.
Still, it’s a decent addition to the espionage genre. Not groundbreaking, not reinventing anything, but entertaining enough to justify the runtime. A glossy, globe-trotting spy ride with enough twists to keep you paying attention, even if you occasionally find yourself thinking “yeah…this is definitely a Netflix action movie.”
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