The 355

UK Release Date. 7 January 2022
Certification. 12A
Running Time. 2 hours 2 mins
Director. Simon Kinberg
Cast. Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Bingbing Fan, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong'o, Sebastian Stan.
Rating. 41%

Review.

With an impressive ensemble female cast - Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz,  Diane Kruger and Lupita Nyong'o - The 355 wants to be important, purposeful and empowering. But, irrespective of the feminine spin on a male-dominated genre, the film is formulaic, the storyline is a mess and the action set pieces are lacklustre.

The undeniably talented cast are reduced to shallow, one-dimensional caricatures of tropes. There's a discernable lack of chemistry between the main protagonists. Only the wonderful Lupita Nyong'o brings a degree of convincing emotion to an essentially supporting role.

The film takes its title from the codename of an anonymous female agent during the time of the American Revolution. To this day, her name remains a mystery, but many current serving female operatives today use the codename as a badge of honour. 

There's an element of smugness to The 355, the film believing in its own self-importance and that an empowering story of strong, resourceful women will paper over the failings of a weak script and scant storyline. It doesn't.