Heart of Stone

## *Heart of Stone*

### Produced by

David Ellison
Dana Goldberg
Don Granger
Gal Gadot
Jaron Varsano
Bonnie Curtis
Julie Lynn

### Screenplay by

Greg Rucka
Allison Schroeder

### Starring

Gal Gadot
Jamie Dornan
Alia Bhatt

### Studio(s)

Skydance
Pilot Wave
Mockingbird Pictures

### Language

English

***Heart of Stone*** is an American spy action thriller film directed by Tom Harper from a screenplay by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder and a story by Rucka. The film stars Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, and Alia Bhatt.

The development of *Heart of Stone* began in December 2020, when Gadot signed on to star, with the film being the planned start of a franchise in a similar vein to the Mission: Impossible films. Harper and Netflix were confirmed to serve as director and distributor respectively the following month, with the rest of the cast being confirmed in early 2022. Filming took place in Italy, London, Reykjavík and Lisbon between January and July.

*Heart of Stone* was released by Netflix on August 11, 2023 to mixed reviews from critics.

## Premise

Rachel Stone is a CIA agent, the only woman who stands between her powerful, global, peace-keeping organization and the loss of its most valuable — and dangerous — asset.

## Story

In the Italian Alps, an MI6 team is tasked with extracting potential asset and arms dealer, Mulvaney. Rachel Stone, in the tech support team, is in a van with Bailey, but is called upon to enter the ski lodge casino to be near enough to hack into security's encryption key.

To maintain her cover while in the casino, Stone plays one hand of blackjack. Field agents Parker and Yang are given access to the restricted gambling area, where their plan to inject Mulvaney to fake a heart attack is thwarted by his bodyguard. However, Parker is able to isolate and take him on a cable car.

Meanwhile, Stone feigns a twisted ankle so the MI6 team goes on without her. She then reconnects with Charter, a secret peace-keeping organization for whom she is actually working. Hoping to prevent Mulvaney's security team from taking out Parker, Stone is guided by her Charter contact, Jack, to get ahead of the cable car. She takes out the six-man security team, hiding the bodies. However, Mulvaney apparently takes cyanide and dies.

Back in London, the MI6 team are reprimanded for botching the job. Later that night, as the team wind down together, they speculate about the rumored Charter.

Stone goes to Charter headquarters where the head Nomad criticizes her actions. Concerned about young savant hacker Keya, she's told she and the MI6 team is seeking her out in Lisbon. However, in Lisbon, they are ambushed by several people. Although Stone is given an escape route, she opts to stay and save her MI6 team. She thus blows her cover, revealing that she is a Charter agent. Once this is revealed, Parker kills the other MI6 team members, revealing that he is a double agent. He paralyzes Stone as he relates he's going after the "Heart," which is the core of the AI system used by the Charter to guide their operations.

Parker reveals that he was working with Keya to shake down Mulvaney. Once discovering the Charter protects and controls the Heart, he put the pressure on the team until Stone reveals herself. Poisoning Stone which immobilizes her, he then embeds a device in her arm which can infiltrate Charter once she's in their facility.

As they revive Stone at Charter headquarters, she rips out the device Parker had embedded in her arm to hack into the Heart. Luckily the Locker, which protects the heart, is 85,000 feet above ground, and Jack confirms that the Trojan Horse was stopped in time.

Nomad takes Stone off the case as her cover has been compromised. Keya contacts Stone to mock her, but Stone threatens that she's coming after Keya to avenge her friends.

The Charter's four "kings" meet to discuss why Parker is determined to obtain the Heart. He's seeking revenge against them as he was abandoned and left for dead on a Chechnya mission. Parker and Keya find and retrieve the Heart in the Locker, high above western Africa, only for Stone to intervene.

Parker takes off in a helicopter with the Heart, while Stone and Keya fall in the desert in Senegal. There Keya reveals that the Heart can only be unlocked using her biometric data. Ambushed by locals bribed by Parker’s men, Stone escapes by jumping into the sea. Stone washes ashore and is rescued by the Six of Hearts and is flown to Iceland with Charter's aid, where Parker is using the Heart to kill The Charter members, especially the 'kings'.

Using a tracker Stone placed on Keya, Charter locates them at Reykjavik University. Keya sees Parker's obsession for power and revenge at all costs, and his complete disregard for collateral damage. He takes out one 'king' with her whole family, another by setting a trap, and he plans to take out the third, Nomad, by cutting off the ventilation in their underground bunker using the Heart.

Wanting to right her wrongs, Keya helps Stone. Shutting down the Heart, Parker's revenge plot is paused. In the ensuing fight, Keya and Stone stop Parker and reboot the Heart in time to save the lives of Nomad and Charter members.

In the end, Stone is assigned to lead a team with Keya and Jack.

## Cast

* Gal Gadot as Rachel Stone
* Jamie Dornan as Parker
* Alia Bhatt as Keya Dhawan
* Sophie Okonedo as Nomad
* Matthias Schweighöfer as Jack of Hearts
* Jing Lusi as Yang
* Paul Ready as Bailey
* Jon Kortajarena as the Blond
* Archie Madekwe as Ivo
* BD Wong as King of Clubs
* Glenn Close as King of Diamonds
* Mark Ivanir as King of Spades

## Production

It was announced in December 2020 that Gal Gadot had signed on to star in the film, which is planned to be the beginning of a franchise in a similar vein to the *Mission: Impossible* franchise. Tom Harper was in negotiations to direct. Harper was confirmed in January 2021, with Netflix acquiring the distribution rights to the film. In February 2022, Jamie Dornan was cast to star alongside Gadot. In March, Alia Bhatt, Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, Jing Lusi and Paul Ready were added to the cast. This movie marks the Hollywood debut of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt.

Principal photography began in the Alpin Arena Senales (South Tyrol) on 26 January 2022. Following in London, United Kingdom on 8 March 2022. The second schedule of filming then took place in Reykjavík, Iceland the following month, after which production moved back to London in May, for the succeeding schedule. The fourth schedule took place in Lisbon, Portugal. Principal filming concluded on 28 July 2022.

## Release

*Heart of Stone* was released by Netflix on August 11, 2023.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 31% of 99 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Gal Gadot remains an entertaining action star, but she's no match for *Heart of Stone's* thinly written characters, generic plot, and rote set pieces." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

## References

1. ↑ "*Heart of Stone*". *Writers Guild of America West*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Skydance Media Sets Gal Gadot To Star In *Heart Of Stone*, Original Spy Franchise In Mold Of *Mission: Impossible* & *007*". *Deadline Hollywood* (December 2, 2020).
3. ↑ Kroll, Justin (2022-02-01). "Jamie Dornan To Co-Star Opposite Gal Gadot In Netflix And Skydance’s ‘Heart Of Stone’". *Deadline*.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kroll, Justin (2022-03-08). "Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, Jing Lusi And Paul Ready Round Out Cast ‘Heart Of Stone’ Starring Gal Gadot For Netflix & Skydance" (en-US). *Deadline*.
5. ↑ "'Heart of Stone' Adds Cast" (en). *About Netflix*.
6. ↑ "New Cast Members Join ‘Heart Of Stone’ Starring Gal Gadot For Netflix & Skydance" (en-US). *yahoo.com*.
7. ↑ "Netflix Wins Auction For Skydance Spy Thriller *Heart Of Stone*; Gal Gadot Starring & Tom Harper Directing". *Deadline Hollywood* (January 15, 2021).
8. ↑ "Jamie Dornan To Co-Star Opposite Gal Gadot In Netflix And Skydance's *Heart Of Stone*". *Deadline Hollywood* (February 1, 2022).
9. ↑ "Alia Bhatt Joins Gal Gadot In Netflix And Skydance's *Heart Of Stone*". *Deadline Hollywood* (March 7, 2022).
10. ↑ "Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, Jing Lusi And Paul Ready Round Out Cast *Heart Of Stone* Starring Gal Gadot For Netflix & Skydance". *Deadline Hollywood* (March 8, 2022).
11. ↑ "Heart of Stone: Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan film new scenes in London as Alia Bhatt gears up for Hollywood debut" (en). *PINKVILLA* (2022-05-19).
12. ↑ "Gal Gadot, Jamie Dorman film Heart of Stone in the UK". *KFTV* (March 7, 2022).
13. ↑ "Gal Gadot to film Heart of Stone in the UK". *KFTV* (August 19, 2021).
14. ↑ "From Iceland — Netflix To Shoot A Movie In Downtown Reykjavík" (en-US). *The Reykjavik Grapevine* (2022-03-25).
15. ↑ Breen, Nadia (20 May 2022). "Jamie Dornan films with Gal Gadot in London" (en). *BelfastLive*. Retrieved on 29 June 2022.
16. ↑ "Heart of Stone starring Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan to film in Portugal". *Kemps Film and TV Production Services Handbook* (June 14, 2022).
17. ↑ "Gal Gadot on Instagram" (en). *Instagram*.