Daisy Ridley’s Promising Talent
Daisy has been a long time considered a potentially talented actress. The fame of her career reached its zenith when she portrayed the character Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The spectators were impressed with her performances in fights and the depth that she added through her subtle, emotional parts. Her versatility has shown in her work, balancing both physical and emotional roles with ease. Nonetheless, in her recent career choices, not all her successes were a match.
Though she presented a solid feat when impersonating the ever-famous American swimmer Gertrude Ederle in The Young Woman and the Sea, many others of her movies like Sometimes I Think About Dying, The Marsh King’s Daughter, and Magpie were not relatively successful. These films have unfortunately failed to showcase Ridley’s full potential. And now, she finds herself in perhaps the least flattering role of her career so far: Cleaner, a film that might just be the lowest point on her IMDb page.
In Cleaner, Ridley takes on the role of Joey Locke, a literal window cleaner. This high-stakes thriller, directed by the skilled action filmmaker Martin Campbell, introduces audiences to Joey, a woman whose life is anything but easy. Joey comes from a broken home and is the primary caregiver for her autistic brother, Michael, portrayed by Matthew Tuck. Although she dropped out of the British Army, she still struggles to make ends meet, working as a cleaner in one of London’s most impressive skyscrapers, One Canada Square. The film opens with a flashback to Joey’s childhood, where we see her climbing out of a window of their tall apartment building while her father abuses her brother.
Life Takes a Turn for Joey
Fast forward to the present day, where Joey’s life takes a dramatic turn. Her brother Michael is kicked out of his care home, which causes Joey to be late for work. Her boss, already frustrated with her tardiness, sends her outside to assist fellow cleaner Noah, played by Taz Skylar. Regarding Joey, his boss is extremely upset, so much so that he punishes her with a job of cleaning off a dead bird from the windows of the upper floors. This situation, though it doesn’t look serious at first glance, is the beginning of the turmoil that is in the air. While she attempts to accomplish her work, her mind is preoccupied when Agnian Energy’s high-quality gala is disrupted by the eco-terrorists, Earth Revolution, who are fronting the event.
The eco-terrorists, led by Marcus (Clive Owen), take control of the security level in the building, ruthlessly shooting Joey’s boss and knocking everyone inside unconscious with a mysterious gas. Nevertheless, the Agnian Energy executives are spared from the gas’ effects as Marcus has a very particular mission: he requires them to confess their environmental wrongdoings on camera. This initial setting creates the major dispute of the film, since Joey, remaining in a vulnerable position, finds herself unfolding in the middle of the uncontrollable chaos. Isolated and with her life in danger, Joey has to move through a series of hazardous situations, not only to protect herself but also her brother.
A Missed Opportunity for Ridley
Despite Ridley’s talent and her strong performances in past roles, Cleaner fails to showcase her abilities in a meaningful way. Similarly, the movie, unfortunately, does not live up to the expectations of the genre of an action-thriller owing to the fact that most of the narrative is either underdeveloped or the character of Joey is rather one-dimensional. Despite the fact that Ridley’s performance is good, it still gets overshadowed by the unsatisfactory script and the storyline that does not really go anywhere. Even though there is Joey every now and then, it seems that Cleaner is not the project that would really push her to the point of presenting her in a different light.
She indeed had that magnificent character from Star Wars but it is absolutely painful to see great potential not being fully exploited. Cleaner had the potential to be a cornerstone of her career. However, several mistakes have been made during the making of this film, its failure to provide a meaningful narrative or a strong character arc for Ridley’s character is a missed opportunity. For an actress who has shown such promise, this film feels like a step backward. While Ridley’s career may have dealt with a few difficulties in recent years, one can only hope that she will discover roles that will allow her to express her talent the way she truly deserves.
Joey’s Shocking Discovery
Joey finds herself in a terrible situation as an unwilling witness to the eco-terrorist group, Earth Revolution, hijacking the gala. As the chaos dips Joey deeper into the matter, she realizes a shocking revelation: her fellow cleaner, Noah is one of the terrorists. To that degree, his aims are way more serious than anyone could have imagined. With calmness, Noah maneuvers the situation so that he can force Joey into an undeniable compromising position. He plays a magician by desperately trying to make her see that she shot a gun, without any clear explanation of its goal and the role of this act in the story.
The scene, which is designed to bring out the suspense, turns out inconclusive and besides, it detracts from the main plot of the movie. As Joey struggles to comprehend her steadily worsening fate, the narrative quickly rolls out Claire Hume, acted by the film’s prestigious actress Ruth Gemmell. Claire is the chief of the London police and the only person who stands out for her clear thinking to prevent disasters from happening. On the contrast, Clair can see the bigger picture and she soon notices that the threat to the city is not caused by outside intervention, but rather within the building.
Through the series of circulating phone calls, Claire and Joey start establishing a kinship, with Claire delivering her knowledge while Joey tries her best to pull through. This exchange infuses the film with an additional dose of thrill, as the two women join forces to confront the impending threat. Even if the two of them are together in their efforts, they are trapped with a worse situation when the hijackers’ mare from inside the building and in the meantime Joey is fighting to clear her name.
Action Sequences and Unbelievable Premise
The action that follows is an attempt to inject some excitement into a film that is already struggling to hold the viewer’s attention. Joey, now fully aware of her role in the chaos, must act fast to save the day.The action and dramatic moments are acceptable even though the film’s plot is not believable. On the one hand, an eco-terrorist group targeting an energy company in a city like London is quite an interesting thought, but when it is rooted in such a way that it is not easy to accept, it loses its initial charm. This film is unsuccessful in wittingly balancing tension with absurd, which makes it more difficult for the audience to be absorbed by the whole drama. On top of that, the representation of environmentalists as villains is a little upsetting, especially now when it is crucially important to act upon the environment issues.
Martin Campbell, the director of classic movies such as Casino Royale and Vertical Limit, is a master in action sequences and has fully shown it in his previous works. Still, in Cleaner he feels restricted by a screenplay that is insufficient, to say the least. Written by Simon Uttley, who has a history of working on similarly toned thrillers, the screenplay for Cleaner lacks the clarity and emotional depth needed to make the story truly engaging. The dialogue seems artificial at times, and the motivations of the characters are seldom developed in an inspiring manner. In a similar way, Joey’s background is very melodramatic and also psychiatrically very simplistic. However, rather than making her character much richer, it increases the multiple meanings that may be present in the text too.
Missed Potential and a Weak Title
Fundamentally, Cleaner is unable to provide the required thrill that a high-concept thriller supposed to give. Despite the opportunity, it introduces for an intense and action-packed storyline, the film keeps back from being fully realized. The skyscraper, the idea of which should serve as an additional antagonist, fails to attain the level of importance it should. The breathtaking heights and the near threat of the building’s architecture are merely glimpsed as aspects of the characters causing them to sally forth. Cleaner cannot demonstrate the same level of suspense and excitement as Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, where Tom Cruise got the attention of the audience by hanging from the Burj Khalifa by one hand. This mistake is yet another fact that forcefully pulls a fundamentally faltering movie into a deeper slough.
The film’s title, Cleaner, has also added no value at all. It is a lifeless name for a movie that was in desperate need of something more riveting to be able to hold the audience’s attention to the full. Daisy Ridley is a talented actress who is able to carry out fighting scenes with much finesse, although Cleaner just gives her a window to her excellence. Even Ridley’s solid performance is burdened by a profane script and an ambiguous storyline. The film is so disappointing and it shows quite clearly that Ridley deserves much better than this. With her proven talent and experience, it’s evident that she can excel in action-packed roles, but this film does not serve as the platform to demonstrate that. As an actress with so much promise, Ridley’s future projects should aim to offer more substantial material that allows her to truly shine.
