If you like action movies, Close on Netflix is the movie for you

If you like action movies then you’re going to want to add the Noomi Rapace led Close to your Netflix watch list.

Somehow quietly, Noomi Rapace has established herself as an action movie heavyweight. She appears as the lead in the new Netflix action film Close and delivers as expected. She plays a high-level private security guard who is assigned to protect a wealthy heiress on foreign soil. She takes her job seriously and, though they initially butt heads, she gains a connection with her assignment that takes the stakes to another level.

Rapace is a force and in this film, and she is basicallyone-womanman wrecking crew doing whatever it takes to protect the girl she’s been assigned to. *Light spoilers ahead* 

Great Pace

When you’re sitting down to watch an action movie, you don’t necessarily want a ton of set up. The best action movies give you a taste of what you’re going to expect right away and Close follows this game plan. Right out of the gate we meet Sam Carlson (Rapace) on a detail in either Iraq or Afghanistan where she is forced to get creative to protect the journalist she’s been assigned to. Her calm demeanor and strategic approach to taking down the would-be kidnappers lets you know how formidable she is right out of the gate.

From there, I expected to start to get more story but there really wasn’t a ton. We meet Zoe (Sophie Nelisse) as she’s preparing for her father’s funeral. We quickly learn that she doesn’t have a great relationship with her step-mother and, after finding out that her father left her a ton of shares, the step-mother has her moved to another house and asks that a woman be assigned as her guard.

Insert Sam Carlson. Sam is back on our screens within 10 or so minutes of our introduction to our secondary characters. Once they arrive at their destination, Sam is to leave but then everything goes wrong. The attack is underway and the rest of the film involves Sam and Zoe on the run trying to figure out what’s going on and how they can get out alive. They run into several threats along the way and both have to step up to ensure their survival. There are very few moments where the stakes aren’t high.

Sam’s history

Early on we’re given hints that there’s more to Sam than her hard exterior would tell. She keeps listening to a voicemail from a young girl and later in the story it becomes clear who this person is. The story behind the voicemail is supposed to help explain why she goes so far to protect Zoe.

I understand why this was part of the movie but felt that it was used too much down the stretch to try to add a layer of depth to the film.

Mystery

While Close plays as a traditional action movie, there is enough of a mystery element to keep the tension high. The characters don’t know who to trust and neither will you. Things happen quickly and you barely have time to think before decisions are having to be made.

Overall

Once again, Close has great fight scenes that aren’t over the top but are very raw and intense. Some of the scenes are brutal but that’s the reality of combat. Rapace has to fight in a lot of different environments and employ different tactics to get the job done. Unique fights are necessary for any action film and Close has these.

I also enjoyed that the movie was heavily female led and none of the three prominent women were overly sexualized.

If you like action movies, give Close a watch.