Atomic Blonde

Atomic Blonde is a 2017 American action thriller spy film based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City, which revolves around a spy who has to find a list of double agents who are being smuggled into the West on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The film is directed by David Leitch, in his first solo directorial credit, and it is written by Kurt Johnstad. The film's cast includes Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella, Bill Skarsgård, and Toby Jones.

Atomic Blonde had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2017 and was theatrically released in the United States on July 28, 2017, by Focus Features. It grossed $100 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its action sequences, Theron's and McAvoy's performances, and the soundtrack. Many compared the film to the John Wick series, for which Leitch was an uncredited co-director and producer of the first film. A sequel is in development.

Plot
In November 1989, just days prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, MI6 agent James Gascoigne is shot and killed by KGB agent Yuri Bakhtin, who steals The List, a microfilm document concealed in Gascoigne's wristwatch that contains the names of every intelligence agent (on both sides) active in Berlin. Ten days later, Lorraine Broughton, a top-level MI6 spy, is brought in to be debriefed by MI6 executive Eric Gray and CIA agent Emmett Kurzfeld about her just-finished mission to Berlin. The plot jumps between the debrief room and flashbacks to Lorraine's time in Berlin.

The day after Gascoigne's death, Lorraine is dispatched to recover The List and is told to keep an eye out for Satchel, a double agent for the KGB who has been a problem for MI6 for years. Arriving in Berlin, she is immediately ambushed by KGB agents who deliver a message from their boss, Aleksander Bremovych, but she is able to escape and meet up with her contact, eccentric MI6 Station Head David Percival. Lorraine searches Gascoigne's apartment and discovers a picture of him and Percival. In the debriefing, she tells Gray and Kurzfeld that Percival had previously denied knowing Gascoigne and that she suspects Percival was behind the West Berlin police ambushing her while she searched Gascoigne's apartment. When Lorraine visits a restaurant mentioned by the KGB agents she encounters Bremovych, but is "saved" by Delphine Lasalle, a rookie French agent. Although Lorraine is initially suspicious of Lasalle, they eventually enter into a romantic relationship.

Percival, having tailed Lorraine, surveils a watchmaker she visited. He spots Bakhtin entering the same shop. Bakhtin tells the watchmaker he has a watch full of secrets he will sell to the highest bidder. Kurzfeld meets with Lorraine in Berlin, handing her a newspaper containing a number which, when called, informs her that Satchel has been compromised. Percival lures Bakhtin to an alley, kills him and takes the wristwatch, from which he discovers who Satchel is. Lorraine, who does not know Percival has The List, finds out that the Stasi officer codenamed Spyglass, who gave The List to Gascoigne, also memorized the names on it. Lorraine and Percival make plans to escort him across the border to West Berlin. Percival meets with Bremovych, who suspects Percival has The List, but Percival only offers the second best thing: the identity and operations of Satchel "to keep the balance", also tipping him off about the plan to extricate Spyglass from East Berlin. Lasalle covertly photographs the meeting.

During the extrication of Spyglass, Percival clandestinely shoots him when the KGB are unable to. Lorraine battles multiple KGB while rescuing the wounded Spyglass, but he drowns when their car is rammed into a river. Lorraine makes it to West Berlin and realizes Percival has planted a bug in her coat. She tells Lasalle, who calls Percival and threatens him with her knowledge of his Bremovych meeting. Percival goes to Lasalle's apartment and kills her, fleeing as Lorraine arrives moments later. Lorraine discovers the photographs taken by Lasalle and realizes Percival has read The List. Percival burns his safehouse and attempts to flee, but Lorraine arrives, kills him, and takes The List.

In the MI6 debriefing, Lorraine finds out Percival had told Gray he had The List and that he was "very close to Satchel". She presents Lasalle's photographs and doctored audio recordings, which paint Percival as Satchel. She denies knowing The List's whereabouts, leaving MI6 no choice but to close the case.

Three days later in Paris, Lorraine, now speaking in Russian, meets with Bremovych, who addresses her as "Comrade Satchel". Bremovych, having learned from Percival that there is more to Satchel than he had previously known, orders his men to kill her. Lorraine kills his henchmen; then, speaking with an American accent, she tells Bremovych that she always fed him bad information to manipulate the KGB. She kills Bremovych, and then she and Kurzfeld return to the United States with The List.

Cast
In addition, Sam Hargrave and Bill Skarsgård make brief appearances as MI6 agent James Gascoigne and as Lorraine's East German contact and presumed CIA ally Merkel, respectively.
 * Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton, a top-level MI6 field agent.
 * James McAvoy as David Percival, an eccentric MI6 Berlin station chief who is assigned to assist Lorraine in her mission.
 * John Goodman as Emmett Kurzfeld, a senior CIA agent working with MI6.
 * Toby Jones as Eric Gray, Lorraine's MI6 superior.
 * Til Schweiger as Watchmaker, a mysterious neutral character who crafts special watches hiding codes inside. Revealed to be CIA ally.
 * Eddie Marsan as Spyglass, the Stasi defector who gives the list to Gascoigne.
 * Sofia Boutella as Delphine Lasalle, an undercover French agent who becomes Lorraine's lover.
 * Roland Møller as Aleksander Bremovych, a high-ranking Russian operative in Berlin.
 * Jóhannes Jóhannesson as Yuri Bakhtin, the rogue KGB agent who kills Gascoigne and steals the list.
 * James Faulkner as "C", head of MI6.
 * Barbara Sukowa as Coroner, who is in charge of releasing Gascoigne's body to Lorraine.