Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
When the CIA discovers one of its agents leaked information that cost more than 100 people their lives, veteran operative Henry Pelham is assigned to root out the mole with his former lover and colleague Celia Harrison.
All the Old Knives is a competent but unremarkable spy thriller that relies heavily on nonlinear structure and dinner-table tension between two leads. The plot draws on familiar mole-hunt territory without adding much new to the genre, keeping it squarely below average in novelty. Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton deliver solid, restrained performances that carry the film but rarely transcend the material. Cinematography is polished and atmospheric in its Vienna and California settings without being particularly distinctive. The ending lands its twist with reasonable satisfaction, though attentive viewers may anticipate it. Overall a watchable, well-crafted but formulaic entry in the espionage genre.