Guy Ritchie's The Covenant

In March 2018, amidst the War in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Sergeant John Kinley and his unit is ambushed by a lorry bomb attack orchestrated by the Taliban during a routine vehicle inspection at Lashkargah, which claims the life of his interpreter. In need of a replacement, he is introduced to Ahmed Abdullah, a steadfast yet disliked interpreter, who claims he pursues the job only for money. During an undercover capture mission, Kinley learns that Ahmed was previously affiliated with the Taliban, but had defected when the organization murdered his son. Ahmed later saves Kinley's team from being ambushed by an Talibani unit aided by a compromised Afghan Army soldier, earning Kinley's respect.

During another raid to check for a possible insurgent arms cache about 100 klicks (62 miles) north of the Bagram Air Base, Kinley's unit is ambushed by Talibani reinforcements, which kills everyone except for him and Ahmed. The duo manage to escape on foot, killing several Talibani fighters in the process. Whilst attempting to return to the airbase by navigating through the mountainous Afghan terrain, they are once again ambushed by insurgents, who manage to shoot Kinley in the arm, before delivering a massive bludgeon to his forehead, incapacitating him. However, Ahmed stages a counterattack and manages to kill the insurgents. Wanting to save the immobilized Kinley, he resolves to take him back to the air base. Receiving the assistance of several sympathetic Afghans, whilst evading the radar of the now-vengeful Taliban, Ahmed lugs Kinley through the country's treacherous topography over the course of several days and manages to reach the vicinity of the base, before being attacked again by the Taliban units; he kills them, but is apprehended by U.S. troops.

Three weeks later, Kinley, having been repatriated to his home in Los Angeles, is stupendously unaware of how he was saved, but understands Ahmed's role in it. Learning that their now-publicly known escapade had created anger amidst the Taliban, which has put Ahmed, who has moved underground, on their most-wanted list, Kinley attempts in vain to procure U.S. visas for Ahmed and his family to get them to safety. Emotionally tormented by his inability to repay his indebtedness towards Ahmed, he finally resolves to save him himself, enlisting the assistance of Colonel Vokes, to procure the visas in return for allowing him to return to locate Ahmed.

Returning to Afghanistan under the identity of one Ron Kay, Kinley meets with Parker, a private military contractor, who promises to provide support on the condition that the former locates Ahmed first. Parker arranges a rendezvous with Ahmed's brother Ali, who manages to smuggle Kinley across Taliban-controlled territory; in the process, he kills several insurgents after being nearly caught at a road checkpoint, which inadvertently alerts the Taliban. Elsewhere, Vokes informs Kinley that the visas have been processed and are now in Parker's hands. Finally arriving at Ahmed's hideout, Kinley persuades him and his family into accompanying him to the U.S., which he agrees to. Simultaneously, Parker decrypts Kinley's true identity; realizing the duo's value to the Taliban, he arranges for an AC-130 gunship to provide reinforcements. Concurrently, insurgent units mount an attack on Kinley, who manages to escape with Ahmed's family to the nearby Darunta Dam.

Cornered by approaching Talibani units, the duo engage them in a protracted gunfight, which ends with them running out of ammunition. Just as they are about to resign to their fate, the AC-130 arrives, which decimates the remaining Talibani fighters. With the threat neutralized, Parker arrives with additional reinforcements; he openly declares that he would have wholeheartedly supported Kinley's mission had he not lied to him about his identity. Escorted back to Bagram, the group boards an airlift leaving Afghanistan. With their perils finally behind them, Ahmed and Kinley simply nod at each other on the airplane.

The film's ending monologue reveals that in the aftermath of the Taliban's recapture of Afghanistan, over 300 Afghan interpreters affiliated with the U.S. military were murdered by the organization, with thousands more still in hiding.

• Jake Gyllenhaal as Master Sgt. John Kinley
• Dar Salim as Ahmed
• Sean Sagar as Charlie 'Jizzy' Crow
• Jason Wong as Joshua 'JJ' Jung
• Rhys Yates as Tom 'Tom Cat' Hancock
• Christian Ochoa Lavernia as Eduardo 'Chow Chow' Lopez
• Bobby Schofield as Steve Kersher
• Emily Beecham as Caroline Kinley
• Jonny Lee Miller as Col. Vokes
• Alexander Ludwig as Sgt. Declan O'Brady
• Reza Diako as Haadee
• James Nelson-Joyce as Jack 'Jack Jack' Jackson
• Antony Starr as Eddie Parker

It was announced in October 2021 that Jake Gyllenhaal was cast to star in an untitled film, to be directed by Guy Ritchie, and co-written with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies.[5] In January 2022, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) bought U.S. distribution rights to the film, which had been titled The Interpreter, planning to distribute it via their United Artists Releasing joint venture (which Amazon folded into MGM itself in 2023), while STXfilms co-financed the film and handled international sales, Amazon Prime Video acquired some international distribution rights, as well as post-theatrical streaming rights in the United States.[6][7]

Filming began in February 2022 in Alicante, Spain, with Dar Salim, Alexander Ludwig, Antony Starr, Jason Wong, Bobby Schofield, Sean Sagar, Christian Ochoa and Emily Beecham added to the cast.[8] In December 2022, Ritchie revealed that the title had been changed from The Interpreter to The Covenant.[9] The film was later officially titled Guy Ritchie's The Covenant, reportedly to distinguish it from the 2006 film of the same name.[10]

The film was released in the United States on April 21, 2023, by MGM, and internationally by Amazon Prime Video.[11]

• Guy Ritchie's The Covenant at IMDb