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Dirty Angels
Dirty Angels
Dirty Angels
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Dirty Angels
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMartin Campbell
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Jonas McCord
  • Martin Campbell
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDavid Tattersall
Edited byJames Page
Music byRupert Parkes
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • December 13, 2024 (2024-12-13)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget€35 million[1]

Dirty Angels is a 2024 American action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, with a script co-written by Campbell, Alissa Sullivan Haggis, and Jonas McCord. It stars Eva Green, Maria Bakalova, Rona-Lee Shimon, Ruby Rose and Jojo T. Gibbs. It was released in theaters and video on demand on December 13, 2024.

Plot

[edit]

During the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a group of terrorists storms a girls' school in Quetta, Pakistan, capturing several students including Badia, who is the daughter of Afghanistan's Minister of Education and the U.S. Ambassador's daughter. Some girls initially escape to the rooftop, but are eventually captured. The terrorists demand $10 million ransom per hostage and the release of a prisoner named Sheik Al-Shimali.

After a failed rescue attempt by Delta Force, the U.S. military devises a new plan. They recruit Jake, a female soldier, to lead a rescue mission. Travis, her boss, assembles a team of skilled women including Rocky (a mechanic), Geek (a technician), Shooter (a weapon specialist), The Bomb (an explosive specialist), Medic, along with Dr. Mike. They pose as medical personnel to infiltrate the region.

The Afghan Minister of Education helps them cross the border, though she also plans to pay ransom for her daughter. The team conducts various operations, including raiding a weapons cache. During these missions, they suffer casualties including Dr. Mike and Travis. They also discover that one of their local contacts, Awina, is actually informing the terrorists of their movements.

The team manages to rescue Sheik Al-Shimali from prison transport but loses Rocky in the process. They then attempt to use Sheik Al-Shimali and counterfeit money to negotiate, but the terrorist leader discovers the fake money. This leads to a final assault on the terrorists' cave base.

During the climactic rescue, Jake confronts and kills the terrorist leader while The Bomb leads the captured girls to safety. Though they successfully rescue the hostages and evacuate them by helicopter, several team members are lost in the process. The film ends with Jake and Malik choosing to return to rescue Geek, who stayed behind to cover their escape.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

In September 2022, it was announced that Martin Campbell would be directing the film, with Eva Green attached to star.[4] In November, it was reported that Ruby Rose, Maria Bakalova, Rona-Lee Shimon and Jonica T. Gibbs had joined the cast.[5][6] Christopher Backus joined the film's cast in December.[7]

Principal photography began in December 2022 in Morocco and Millennium Media's Nu Boyana Film Studios in Thessaloniki, Greece,[1][8] and concluded in February 2023.[9]

Release

[edit]

Dirty Angels was released in theaters and video on demand on December 13, 2024.[10]

Reception

[edit]

The film holds a 27% "Rotten" score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 22 reviews with an average rating of 4.6/10.[11]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Dirty Angels

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
is a 2024 American directed by , centering on an all-female U.S. unit that infiltrates Taliban-controlled territory in by posing as a relief organization to a group of schoolgirls taken hostage. The story follows American soldier Jake, portrayed by , as she confronts double-crosses, personal tragedies tied to her past, and hostile forces amid the mission's high-stakes execution. Co-written by Campbell, Alissa Sullivan Haggis, and Jonas McCord, the screenplay draws on themes of and resilience in environments. The film features a cast including in the lead role, alongside , , Jojo T. Gibbs, and Reza Brojerdi, with production handled by and filmed in part at in . Released directly to digital and on-demand platforms on December 13, 2024, Dirty Angels eschews a wide theatrical run, aligning with its low-budget thriller profile. Campbell, known for directing James Bond entries like GoldenEye and Casino Royale, applies his experience in action sequences to depict the unit's tactical disguises and confrontations involving ISIS and Taliban elements. Critically, the film has garnered polarized responses, with an audience score of 4.5/10 on from over 5,000 ratings and a 27% approval on based on limited reviews, often critiqued for its conventional hostage-rescue formula despite competent direction and Green's intense performance. Some viewers praise its portrayal of female-led , highlighting the real-world inspiration from U.S. military female engagement teams, though the narrative remains fictional and prioritizes suspense over historical fidelity.

Synopsis and Characters

Plot Summary

Dirty Angels depicts the mission of an elite all-female U.S. unit deployed to Taliban-controlled amid the 2021 American withdrawal. The team's primary objective is to rescue a group of schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants, who hold the captives to enforce ideological dominance and deter Western intervention. To execute the extraction, the operatives adopt disguises as local women and medics, navigating the treacherous landscape of where cultural barriers, by hostile forces, and the militants' brutal enforcement of control amplify operational risks. The narrative underscores the tactical ingenuity required to penetrate fortified enemy positions while evading detection in a region rife with betrayal and ambushes by the captors.

Cast and Roles

Eva Green portrays Jake, the commanding officer of an elite all-female special operations unit, depicted as a battle-hardened leader whose personal history of loss intensifies her resolve during high-risk missions. Green's performance conveys the tactical precision and emotional undercurrents that propel the team's covert actions in the film's thriller framework. Maria Bakalova plays The Bomb, a demolitions specialist on the squad whose expertise in handling explosives underscores the unit's capability for rapid, destructive interventions amid escalating threats. Bakalova's portrayal highlights the diverse skill sets within the team, contributing to the narrative's emphasis on coordinated, high-stakes maneuvers. Ruby Rose assumes the role of Medic, the team's medical officer tasked with maintaining operational readiness under duress, reflecting the squad's emphasis on survival and adaptability in adversarial settings. Her character's focus on and field amplifies the thriller's tension through depictions of vulnerability and quick decision-making. Reza Brojerdi features as a primary antagonistic figure among the militant opposition, embodying the ruthless opposition that tests the unit's resolve and drives confrontational sequences. The supporting ensemble, including portrayals of hostages and additional militants, bolsters the action dynamics by illustrating the chaotic, multifaceted threats encountered during the operation.

Production History

Development and Pre-Production

The development of Dirty Angels stemmed from a script centered on a timely narrative set amid the ' 2021 withdrawal from , depicting an all-female unit tasked with rescuing schoolgirls kidnapped by militants amid Taliban-ISIS tensions. Director , recognized for helming action-oriented films including Casino Royale (2006) and (1995), was drawn to the project's emphasis on grounded realism over exaggerated sequences, viewing the all-female team's composition as essential to the plot's infiltration tactics rather than superficial diversity. Campbell co-wrote the screenplay alongside Alissa Sullivan Haggis, incorporating his story contributions to heighten the mission's stakes, where the unit poses as a relief organization to access terrorist-held hostages. The project advanced rapidly once funding was secured, transitioning to production status by November 2022, with scheduled to commence the following month in and at Nu Boyana Studios in . This expedited timeline reflected Campbell's preference for authentic, brutal depictions of , informed by the script's focus on post-withdrawal chaos. Pre-production efforts prioritized actor preparation to achieve credible soldier portrayals, including a dedicated boot camp for the cast to foster on-screen camaraderie and physical authenticity. This training underscored the film's intent to portray the operatives' dynamics realistically, aligning with Campbell's vision of a raw thriller devoid of Hollywood stylization.

Filming and Technical Production

Principal photography for Dirty Angels commenced in 2023 at in , leveraging the facility's extensive backlots and soundstages to replicate the rugged, war-torn landscapes of . The production utilized practical locations and set constructions to evoke authentic Middle Eastern terrain, minimizing reliance on green-screen environments for key action sequences. This approach allowed for on-location filming that integrated real-world elements like dust, elevation changes, and to heighten the film's immersive quality during infiltration and combat scenes. Technical execution emphasized hands-on stunt work and to convey tactical realism, with performers executing many of their own action beats to capture genuine physicality. , portraying a key operative, performed several demanding , including and evasion maneuvers, underscoring the production's commitment to visceral, performer-driven sequences over digital augmentation. Combat scenes featured coordinated by stunt coordinators focused on close-quarters realism, incorporating disguises and improvised weaponry to mirror tactics without excessive CGI enhancements. Post-production was overseen by , with emphasis placed on refining audio layers to amplify tension in confined, high-stakes environments such as tunnel infiltrations and ambushes. Sound design integrated layered effects of gunfire echoes, muffled communications, and ambient chaos to underscore the operatives' precarious disguises and split-second decisions, enhancing the auditory realism of the film's action craftsmanship. Visual effects were sparingly applied, prioritizing practical footage polish to maintain a grounded aesthetic in the thriller's narrative of covert rescue operations.

Contextual Background

Real-World Inspirations

The premise of Dirty Angels draws from the U.S. military's Female Engagement Teams (FETs), all-female units deployed in starting in 2009 to conduct culturally sensitive interactions with local women, who were often inaccessible to male soldiers due to customs prohibiting physical contact between unrelated men and women. These teams, initially pioneered by the U.S. Marine Corps and later expanded across services, operated until the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, embedding with infantry units to perform searches, medical aid, and rapport-building during patrols in provinces like Helmand and . FETs contributed to counterterrorism by eliciting intelligence from Afghan women on Taliban activities, including insurgent movements and local grievances such as forced marriages and honor-based violence, which male patrols could not access. Analyses of FET operations indicate they facilitated actionable tips leading to detainee captures and weapons caches, though program evaluations noted challenges like inconsistent training and cultural barriers limiting depth of trust. This empirical approach underscored how gender-specific engagement yielded insights into 50 percent of the population previously overlooked in intelligence collection. The film's depiction of threats to schoolgirls reflects documented Taliban tactics, including attacks on girls' education facilities and abductions to deter female enrollment, as seen in incidents across Kunduz Province where militants targeted students and educators between 2014 and 2017. Following the Taliban's 2021 resurgence, they imposed a nationwide ban on secondary education for girls on December 21, 2022, affecting 1.1 million students and extending prior restrictions on higher learning, enforced through school closures and threats of violence. This policy, justified by the Taliban as alignment with sharia interpretations, has persisted without reversal as of 2025, reversing pre-2021 gains where female secondary enrollment rose from 5 percent in 2001 to over 39 percent by 2020.

Cultural and Political Relevance

Dirty Angels underscores the stark gender disparities in conflict zones by juxtaposing the operational autonomy of its all-female special forces unit with the systemic subjugation enforced by Islamist groups like the Taliban, emphasizing ideological extremism as a primary causal driver rather than innocuous cultural norms. The film depicts Taliban restrictions that prohibit women from public mobility without male guardians and ban female secondary education, measures rooted in a strict interpretation of Sharia law that prioritizes doctrinal purity over individual rights. Following the Taliban's 2021 takeover, these policies have denied secondary schooling to approximately 1.1 million girls, exacerbating intergenerational poverty and limiting societal contributions from half the population. This portrayal aligns with empirical evidence of causal enforcement mechanisms, such as morality police patrols and decree-based edicts, which contrast sharply with the film's female protagonists' freedom to conduct missions, highlighting how Western-backed frameworks enable female agency in high-stakes environments. The narrative challenges relativistic views that frame such as mere "," instead attributing it to the Taliban's ideological commitment to gender segregation as a bulwark against perceived moral corruption, a stance empirically linked to reduced female workforce participation from 20% pre-2021 to near-zero in formal sectors post-takeover. Western interventions, including support for Afghan women's education and professional training from 2001-2021, demonstrably advanced metrics like female literacy rates rising from 17% to over 30%, though critics argue these imposed alien values; the film implicitly counters this by showcasing tangible gains in female empowerment amid counterinsurgency efforts. All-female units, akin to U.S. Female Engagement Teams (FETs) deployed in from 2010 onward, offered advantages in gathering by accessing segregated female networks—comprising up to 50% of the inaccessible to male soldiers—facilitating rapport-building that yielded actionable tips on insurgent activities. However, these teams faced drawbacks, including heightened vulnerability due to limited combat training and smaller sizes, exposing members to risks in direct engagements where physical disparities and cultural targeting amplified threats. Declassified military assessments affirm FETs' contributions to network disruptions, such as identifying hidden weapons caches through female-only interactions, yet underscore the trade-offs in operational security. By foregrounding individual agency within structured hierarchies against ideological absolutism, Dirty Angels engages broader debates on interventionism's role in fostering gender equity, privileging of improved outcomes under liberal frameworks over narratives downplaying extremism's agency-suppressing effects. This approach invites scrutiny of source biases in academic and media discourse, where systemic tendencies to contextualize as often overlook causal data on doctrinal enforcement's isolating impacts.

Distribution and Release

Marketing and Premiere

Lionsgate's marketing for Dirty Angels centered on Eva Green's lead performance and her reunion with director from Casino Royale, positioning the film as a gritty action thriller driven by themes of vengeance and high-stakes extraction. The official trailer, released on November 7, 2024, highlighted intense sequences and the all-female squad's infiltration mission to rescue captives from , aiming to appeal to audiences seeking realistic military revenge narratives. The film premiered with a limited theatrical rollout in select U.S. theaters on December 13, 2024, simultaneously launching on digital on-demand platforms to prioritize accessible home viewing over a traditional wide release. This strategy avoided an aggressive awards-season campaign, focusing instead on post-holiday streaming accessibility for thriller enthusiasts. Promotional materials, including posters and social media teasers, were distributed via and platforms like , targeting fans of tactical action genres with clips emphasizing the squad's perilous disguise as medics and explosive confrontations. TV spots for home entertainment further promoted the digital availability, underscoring the film's blend of star-driven appeal and geopolitical tension without broader festival circuit engagements.

Box Office Performance

Dirty Angels had a on December 13, 2024, primarily in select international markets, grossing approximately $31,963 worldwide. This included $27,270 in , with negligible domestic earnings in the United States due to its restricted rollout. Produced on a of £36 million (roughly $46 million USD), the film's theatrical performance fell short of recouping costs, reflecting challenges in securing wide distribution amid a crowded end-of-year slate dominated by major studio blockbusters. Post-theatrical, the film pivoted to (VOD) and streaming platforms, where it achieved greater commercial traction. By July 2025, Dirty Angels had emerged as a notable performer on , registering as a global streaming hit several months after its initial release. This direct-to-consumer model capitalized on digital rentals and subscriptions, outperforming expectations for a mid-tier action thriller in an era of streaming saturation, though specific VOD revenue figures remain undisclosed. Compared to contemporaries like other limited-release war thrillers, its theatrical underperformance aligns with trends favoring home viewing over cinema attendance, particularly for genre films without extensive marketing pushes.

Reception and Legacy

Critical Reviews

Critical reception to Dirty Angels has been mixed to negative, with critics praising elements of its action execution while faulting its narrative depth and originality. On , the film holds a 27% approval rating from 22 reviews as of December 2024, reflecting a consensus that it delivers competent work and suspense but succumbs to formulaic thriller tropes. of awarded it 1 out of 4 stars, describing it as providing "mindless throwback violence" through its action sequences yet lamenting its overall boredom and failure to capitalize on potential for meaningful commentary amid the chaos. Eva Green's performance as the lead Marine sergeant received consistent acclaim for its intensity and raw emotional range, with reviewers noting her ability to anchor the film's high-stakes mission despite script limitations. Director Martin Campbell's handling of stunt choreography and pacing in combat scenes earned nods for slick execution reminiscent of his work on , providing visceral thrills in a "women on a mission" framework. However, the ensemble cast beyond Green was criticized as underdeveloped, with supporting characters reduced to archetypes lacking distinct arcs or chemistry. Scripting drew widespread rebuke for its predictability and reliance on hostage-rescue clichés, resulting in a narrative that feels heavy-handed and lacking subtlety. Natalia Winkelman of The New York Times highlighted the film's blunt direction in portraying the squad's rescue of kidnapped schoolgirls in Afghanistan, arguing it prioritizes rote action over nuanced exploration of the genre's tropes, yielding a 40/100 on Metacritic. Overall, while the technical proficiency in suspense and stunts offers momentary engagement, the consensus faults Dirty Angels for underdeveloped character dynamics and a derivative structure that undermines its ambitions.

Audience Response

Audience ratings for Dirty Angels have been mixed to negative, with IMDb users assigning an average score of 4.5 out of 10 based on 5,881 reviews as of late 2024. Some viewers highlighted positives such as the empowering depiction of female operatives and the film's unapologetic anti-terrorism narrative, viewing these elements as a counterpoint to more sanitized action fare. On , the film holds an average rating of 2.2 out of 5 from nearly 5,000 users, reflecting broader dissatisfaction with pacing and execution despite acknowledgment of intense sequences. Fans within action and genres have expressed appreciation for the film's grounded portrayal of operations and high-adrenaline set pieces, often describing it as a visceral escape that echoes ongoing global security concerns like those in post-2021 withdrawal. These sentiments appear in user forums and reviews emphasizing realism in tactics over Hollywood gloss. By mid-2025, streaming data indicated sustained niche popularity among genre enthusiasts, with the film topping charts in multiple Latin American countries on platforms like Prime Video, suggesting enduring appeal for viewers seeking raw, mission-focused thrillers despite middling overall scores.

Controversies and Debates

The film Dirty Angels has sparked debates over its portrayal of American female soldiers intervening in Afghan conflicts, with some left-leaning commentators labeling it as perpetuating a "Western savior" trope that undermines Afghan sovereignty and cultural autonomy. Online critics, including users on platforms like and , have described the movie as "racist" and "Islamophobic war propaganda," arguing its depiction of U.S. forces rescuing girls from and captors ignores local agency and exoticizes Middle Eastern violence for Hollywood spectacle. These accusations often frame the narrative as insensitive to post-colonial sensitivities, prioritizing Western heroism over nuanced representations of Afghan resistance. Counterarguments emphasize that the film's premise draws from verifiable U.S. military practices, particularly Female Engagement Teams (FETs), which from onward successfully accessed Afghan women for intelligence on networks, deescalated searches, and disrupted insurgent operations in ways male units could not due to cultural barriers. FETs, rooted in earlier Lioness programs in and , gathered critical intel on radical threats and supported local women's initiatives, achieving tangible outcomes like identifying hidden weapons caches and sympathizers without inventing ahistorical glorification. Such defenses highlight causal realism: the movie reflects operational necessities in , not fabricated , amid real disruptions of networks that enabled atrocities like the 's systematic . The depiction of Islamist threats has drawn praise from conservative-leaning observers for unflinchingly showing brutality often sanitized in , including kidnappings, forced marriages, and executions overlooked amid withdrawal narratives. Post-2021 Taliban resurgence data substantiates this: public floggings and executions resumed by 2022, with over 1 million women displaced from jobs due to bans on in , NGOs, and most private sectors, exacerbating where female labor participation plummeted amid edicts confining women to homes. UN reports document near-total exclusion from life, with restrictions compounding rates for women exceeding 80% in affected demographics by restricting access to and work. Minor authenticity critiques focus on the film's conflation of Taliban and ISIS as unified foes—despite their historical rivalries—potentially simplifying for drama, though no major casting scandals or production ethics violations emerged. Director defended graphic violence scenes as essential to convey war's horrors, rejecting sanitization charges. Overall, polarized reception underscores broader tensions: empirical evidence of FET efficacy and Taliban gender apartheid bolsters the film's against ideological dismissals prioritizing narrative offense over documented causal impacts.

References

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  2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23872640/
  3. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dirty_angels
  4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23872640/reviews/
  5. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dirty-angels-eva-green-film-review
  6. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23872640/plotsummary/
  7. https://zombiesinmyblog.com/dirty-angels-fights-a-treacherous-mission/
  8. https://www.tvguide.com/movies/dirty-angels/cast/2030345577/
  9. https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1043905-dirty-angels/cast
  10. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/1896806-martin-campbell-interview-dirty-angels-cleaner
  11. https://goseetalk.com/interview-director-martin-campbell-on-dirty-angels-and-favorite-action-scenes-of-his-career/
  12. https://marruda3.wordpress.com/2024/12/19/dirty-angels-2024-compelling-plot-let-down-by-writing-acting-directing/
  13. https://www.movieinsider.com/m20918/dirty-angels
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  15. https://globalqproductions.com/dirty-angels-2023/
  16. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/interview-maria-bakalova-doing-stunts-213433812.html
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  19. https://www.usmcmuseum.com/uploads/6/0/3/6/60364049/fets.pdf
  20. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA567705.pdf
  21. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA560637.pdf
  22. https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/10/17/i-wont-be-doctor-and-one-day-youll-be-sick/girls-access-education-afghanistan
  23. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/afghanistan-four-years-22-million-girls-still-banned-school
  24. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/17/talibans-attack-girls-education-harming-afghanistans-future
  25. https://www.usip.org/tracking-talibans-mistreatment-women
  26. https://www.army.mil/article/88366/female_engagement_teams_who_they_are_and_why_they_do_it
  27. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2025/08/afghanistan-ten-facts-about-the-worlds-most-severe-womens-rights-crisis
  28. https://www.vitalthrills.com/dirty-angels-reunites-eva-green-and-martin-campbell/
  29. https://www.lionsgate.com/videos/dirty-angels-2024-official-trailer-eva-green
  30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBwoSa3n8Yc
  31. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/trailers/1875194-dirty-angels-trailer-release-date-eva-green-maria-bakalova-action-movie
  32. https://www.joblo.com/dirty-angels-trailer-eva-green/
  33. https://www.facebook.com/mariabakalovaofficial/posts/excited-to-share-with-you-the-first-trailer-for-dirty-angels-%25EF%25B8%258Ffight-your-way-out/949682693648633/
  34. https://www.ispot.tv/ad/fckd/directv-cinema-dirty-angles
  35. https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Dirty-Angels-%282024%29
  36. https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Dirty-Angels-%282024%29/Croatia
  37. https://collider.com/eva-green-dirty-angels-prime-video-streaming-success-july-2025/
  38. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt23872640/
  39. https://theactionelite.com/dirty-angels-2024-review/
  40. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dirty_angels/reviews
  41. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dirty-angels/
  42. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/movies/dirty-angels-review.html
  43. https://www.thehollywoodoutsider.com/dirty-angels-2024-film-review/
  44. https://letterboxd.com/film/dirty-angels-2024/
  45. https://maactioncinema.com/archives/25187
  46. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/afghanistan
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