Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Two married spies caught in the crosshairs of an international intelligence network will stop at nothing to obtain a critical asset. Joe and Lara are agents living off the grid whose quiet retreat at a winter resort is blown to shreds when members of the old guard suspect the two may have joined an elite team of rogue spies, known as Alarum.
Alarum is a mid-tier action thriller that leans heavily on familiar spy-couple tropes without bringing much new to the genre. The plot is serviceable but derivative, recycling well-worn ideas about rogue intelligence operatives and shadowy organizations. The acting is competent but unremarkable, with characters that don't leave a lasting impression. Cinematography is a relative bright spot, with the winter resort setting offering some visual texture and decent action staging. Novelty is low — the married-spy-couple premise, secret organizations, and off-the-grid agents have been done many times and Alarum doesn't execute them with enough distinction to stand out. The ending follows a predictable action-thriller resolution without delivering meaningful payoff or surprise, keeping it squarely below average.