Cleaner (2025) | Film Review

These days, any vocation can lead everyday people to action-hero status. Jason Statham has even made an entire career off it (The Beekeeper, The Mechanic, The Working Man). There is an aspect inherently relatable to a normal person – perhaps with a tad of covert training – sweeping in for the rescue. Many will compare these films to Die Hard, which is the gold standard and an apt comparison. Occasionally, though, these movies attempt a unique spin on this familiar concept, and this is where Cleaner comes in.

Daisy Ridley’s Joey is a mess. Habitually late, a bit of a sloppy housekeeper, a short fuse, and struggles with caring for her autistic and technically brilliant brother, Michael (Matthew Tuck). Cleaner opens with an immediate establishment of each of these facts, as well as Joey is forced to take Michael to work with her after he has been kicked out of yet another facility. Seems rebellion runs deep in this family’s DNA.

Joey works for an energy company, led by a pair of unapologetic CEO brothers (Lee Boardman and Rufus Jones), and tasks a co-worker with watching Michael as she completes her shift. Unfortunately, her perpetual lateness has caused her boss to task her with a late assignment. One, in fact, which puts her on the side of a skyscraper just as a gaggle of eco-terrorists – led by Clive Owen’s Marcus – seize control of the high-profile guests at the company’s dinner party. What Marcus failed to count on, as all villains do, is Joey is also a motivated ex-soldier who will do anything to protect innocent bystanders and her brother who is hiding in that very building.

Daisy Ridley has been putting out strong work these past few years (Magpie and Young Woman and the Sea) so at first it seems a bit odd to watch her pop into a rather rudimentary plotted film. But Cleaner is directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), a director who understand set-pieces, and Ridley’s Joey is not a typical hero. Most of the film, in fact, follows Joey’s attempt to assist the partygoers while dangling outside of the building, working with the police down below, and ensuring her brother remains safe and secure.

Though Clive Owen is always a plus, and our terrorists have a few delicious turns up their sleeves, Joey is the heart and soul of entire film. Unlike so many similar films in this genre, Ridley also has the dramatic chops to capture an audience even without fisticuffs, which is far too lacking in movies like these.

Cleaner keeps you in its grips with fun twists and a tightly paced punch. Likewise, Daisy Ridley brings relatability back to the action hero genre by focusing on her character’s humanity amidst the ass-kicking. It might not reinvent the wheel, but Cleaner is an entertaining ride regardless.

Listen to our full podcast review of Cleaner on this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: