Ballerina

"Vengeance has a new face."

2025 2h 5m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 3,027

ActionThrillerCrime

Synopsis

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Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Eve Macarro begins her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.

“Vengeance has a new face.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Ana de Armas
Eve
Keanu Reeves
John Wick
Ian McShane
Winston
Anjelica Huston
The Director
Gabriel Byrne
The Chancellor
Catalina Sandino Moreno
Lena
Ava McCarthy
Ella
Juliet Doherty
Tatiana

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Len Wiseman
Writers: Shay Hatten
Languages: English, German, Russian, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $90M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, Russian, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Len Wiseman, shot by Romain Lacourbas. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Tyler Bates. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jason Ballantine shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Vengeance has a new face.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Len Wiseman directs. Romain Lacourbas behind the camera. Tyler Bates scores. Jason Ballantine cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, German, Russian, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $90M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released last year.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, Russian, Spanish.
4Directed by Len Wiseman, shot by Romain Lacourbas. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Tyler Bates. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jason Ballantine shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Vengeance has a new face.".
9IMDB entry: tt7181546 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has 6 community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "assassin", "tattoo", "grenade", "austria".
12Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Romain Lacourbas
Original score: Tyler Bates
Editing: Jason Ballantine
Production design: Philip Ivey
Costume design: Tina Kalivas
Makeup / hair: Graham Johnston
VFX supervisor: Paul Linden
Stunt coordinator: Jayson Dumenigo
Runtime: 125 min · 2h 5m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $90,000,000
Box office: $137,408,107
Return: 153% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Ballerina (2025)

Also by

Len Wiseman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

JPV8522025-06-06
★ 7/10
Entertaining enough spin-off that features great stunts and action sequences one would expect from the franchise and while the story isn't terribly strong (to be fair none of the JW movies had amazing plots), it was a solid time-waster and Ana de Armas was fairly good in the lead. Reeves for his part probably had about 10-minutes of screen time and likely collected a nice paycheck for a day or two of filming. I won't say it broke new ground however I did think it was a step up from John Wick: Chapter 4. 3.5/5
CinemaSerf2025-06-12
★ 6/10
This isn’t a film, it’s a live action video game with a predictable plot and loads of energetically choreographed CGI to substitute for anything vaguely akin to a story. It starts with the young “Eve” (Victoria Comte) who witnesses her father’s death at the hands of “The Chancellor” (Gabriel Byrne) before being adopted into the secret society of “John Wick” by “Winston” (Ian McShane) and his drag-like boss (Angelica Huston) where she learns to combine the artistic skills of a ballerina with deadly ninja ones - as she morphs into Ana de Armas (whilst everyone else remains exactly the same). Anyway, none of that really matters as she accidentally discovers the identity of the tribe who ruined her life and despite warnings of dire consequences, sets off on a lethal mission of retribution that takes her to a Czech Republic where everyone speaks perfect English. The thing is, it appears that her gang and the one she is pursuing have a sort of unwritten truce, and given she is about to throw that under the Skoda, Angelica has no choice other than to bring out of retirement the legendary you know who. Will that make anything any different or safer or even less repetitive? It not so much that this is derivative and really quite dull, it’s that the dialogue is woeful and the constant frying pan to fire scenarios where people get used and abused are ridiculous. Knives, guns, bottles, pots, pans, kettles - even a pair of ruthlessly applied roller skates and some flamer throwers help our heroine along but it’s hilarious that they always appear just when she needs them. She’s got the points and gone up a level, She also heals as if she were the sister of “Wolverine” and no amount of training is going to remove a six inch shard of glass from your body without it impeding your ability to scale a wall and wield a pick axe. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood, but just like the series upon which this is based, it is unoriginal and after the umpteenth time she has survived against innumerable odds to fight again just had me wondering how long until she’s back with “Ballerina II - the Pirouette”. All of that said, though, it does look good on a cinema screen and that’s where it ought to be seen. It will be even more unimpressive on a television where you can easily hit the fast-forward button.
Moviesandall2025-06-18
★ 8/10
Ballerina is a culmination of everything that works in the John Wick universe, but also dialed up to new heights. The movie is quite a simple vengeance story at the center which is sadly left unfulfilled but it is how well every other element of the movie is taken that makes this story actually work at the end of the day. The action is the same John Wick action we know and love but with so much more creativity infused this time around, from people popping like a balloon by way of grenade to people being lit on fire like crazy. This different approach to the action of the main John Wick films, which is often cold and very mechanical, makes Ballerina stand out on its own. Of course, Ballerina also stands out because of the committed efforts of Ana de Armas as Eve who the audience actually gets to care for in the movie. That's why John Wick's inclusion here seems like a massive 4th wall break because the audience is locked into Eve and her vengeful mission. Other flaws of this movie lie in character development, balance, motivation, and redemption but also in short plot points and vague plot points. Lastly, the world building in Ballerina is a healthy amount, especially for a spin-off film, making the movie that much more interesting. Ballerina is another stellar addition to the John Wick universe that I hope has legs to continue in the future.