Heart of Stone Parent Guide

Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot) leads a double life. Ostensibly a computer analyst for MI6, she is also a field operative for the Charter, a shadowy organization staffed largely by retired intelligence agents. Frustrated by their governments’ inability to eliminate terror cells and criminal syndicates, they band together to work outside the law and across national borders. Not only do these operatives bring their considerable talents to the task, they are also aided by the Heart, the greatest technological achievement in human history.

The Heart is a quantum computer with the power to instantly hack any system or device. It can read bank accounts, drop planes from the sky or elevators down a shaft, and even launch missiles. Not surprisingly, criminal elements are interested in obtaining this powerful device, and one particularly vengeful bad actor soon comes after the Heart, the Charter – and Rachel.

If violent spy thrillers are your favorite caffeine-free way of staying awake, you’ll get what you’re looking for in Heart of Stone. This is a fast-paced thriller with lots of action and gobs and gobs of violence. The action never stops and neither does the punching, kicking, shoving, choking, stomping, stabbing, shooting, and poisoning. Aside from some minor social drinking and a relatively mild level of profanity, violence is the only serious issue in the film, but there is tons of it, so keep that in mind while considering this film’s suitability for your teens.

My attitude towards the spy thriller genre can be summed up as “meh” and Heart of Stone doesn’t change that feeling. I don’t hate this film – it works hard to deliver lots of adrenaline and tries to give Rachel Stone a personality (with iffy success). It also has an unbelievable plot and some frankly ridiculous action sequences. To be fair, it promotes themes of loyalty, courage, mercy, and self-sacrifice. What it fails to do is ask the movie’s biggest question: not who should control the Heart but whether it should exist at all. Should a computer that can see everything, control almost everything, and even predict the future be used by anyone, let alone a group of international vigilantes? That’s the issue the film barely addresses but which moviegoers will likely ponder during and after the show. Of course, if you don’t want to think at all, that’s also an option – and probably the easiest one to take with this punch-em-up.