Max Ingram's Blog
May 3, 2025
Cleaner (2025), starring Daisy Ridley
I just finished watching Cleaner (2025), a recent action film starring Daisy Ridley. I was excited for this one, because I'm a fan of her work in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and I was eager to see what she could do in a Die-Hard-style action vehicle.
Joanna Locke (Daisy Ridley) is a down-on-her-luck window cleaner who barely manages to keep her job while supporting her Autistic brother. But when eco-terrorists start taking hostages in the skyscraper of her energy corp employers, Joanna's troubled military past becomes their only hope for getting out alive.
This movie is, in theory, a Die-Hard-style experience, with Joanna taking on a group of terrorists who have locked down a high-rise building. And the trailer for the film makes it look very exciting, indeed.
Unfortunately, I found the reality less engaging than I'd hoped. All of Daisy Ridley's fight scenes against the terrorists (you know, the stuff most heavily hyped in the trailer) take place in the last 30 minutes of the movie. The preceding 60+ minutes are instead filled with everything that sets that up. And personally, I feel that balance should have been reversed.
I'd much rather see 60 minutes of Daisy fighting bad guys, and only 30 minutes of set-up preceding it. Because once they finally do unleash Daisy Ridley on the eco-terrorists, she does a fantastic job; in fact, that's my favorite part of the movie.
Sadly, it just takes so gosh-darn long to get there, that I almost lost interest more than once.
For fans of Daisy Ridley (and fans of action heroines in general), I'd say it's worth a watch, if for no other reason than to see Daisy kick tail in those last 30 minutes. But if you do so, go in knowing that you'll have to wade through a whole lot of set-up first.
Joanna Locke (Daisy Ridley) is a down-on-her-luck window cleaner who barely manages to keep her job while supporting her Autistic brother. But when eco-terrorists start taking hostages in the skyscraper of her energy corp employers, Joanna's troubled military past becomes their only hope for getting out alive.
This movie is, in theory, a Die-Hard-style experience, with Joanna taking on a group of terrorists who have locked down a high-rise building. And the trailer for the film makes it look very exciting, indeed.
Unfortunately, I found the reality less engaging than I'd hoped. All of Daisy Ridley's fight scenes against the terrorists (you know, the stuff most heavily hyped in the trailer) take place in the last 30 minutes of the movie. The preceding 60+ minutes are instead filled with everything that sets that up. And personally, I feel that balance should have been reversed.
I'd much rather see 60 minutes of Daisy fighting bad guys, and only 30 minutes of set-up preceding it. Because once they finally do unleash Daisy Ridley on the eco-terrorists, she does a fantastic job; in fact, that's my favorite part of the movie.
Sadly, it just takes so gosh-darn long to get there, that I almost lost interest more than once.
For fans of Daisy Ridley (and fans of action heroines in general), I'd say it's worth a watch, if for no other reason than to see Daisy kick tail in those last 30 minutes. But if you do so, go in knowing that you'll have to wade through a whole lot of set-up first.
