Type: movie
Overview: After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.
Language: en
Genres: Action Thriller
The 2025 movie The Amateur does not have a post-credits scene. Multiple sources confirm that there is no extra footage or scenes during, at the end, or after the credits, so audiences can leave the theater once the credits start rolling without missing anything.
While the film leaves some story threads open that could be explored in a potential sequel, no post-credits or mid-credits scene is included to tease future developments.
The movie The Amateur (2025) unfolds with CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller (played by Rami Malek) in a quiet, domestic setting, restoring an old Cessna plane as a gift for his wife, Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan). Sarah departs for a business trip to London, promising to return soon. This peaceful beginning sharply contrasts with the chaos that ensues shortly after her departure.
In the CIA's Decryption and Analysis division, Charlie juggles his desk job alongside field colleagues, including his friend Jackson O'Brien, nicknamed "The Bear." He also communicates with a mysterious source known as "Inquiline." From these classified leaks, Charlie discovers that his bosses, especially Special Activities Center Director Alex Moore, have been covering up politically motivated drone strikes by disguising them as suicide bombings. This disturbing revelation adds a layer of corruption to the intelligence world Charlie inhabits.
Tragedy strikes when Charlie is summoned by CIA Director Samantha O'Brien with the devastating news that Sarah has been murdered during a terrorist hostage incident in London. Surveillance footage confirms that Sarah was taken hostage and then killed alongside other victims. The grief-stricken Charlie receives Sarah's belongings and a puzzle she had prepared for him, a small emotional token that underscores his loss.
Fueled by a complex mix of grief, guilt for not accompanying her, and outrage, Charlie dives deeper into the incident. He identifies four prime suspects responsible for Sarah's death: Belarusian criminal Mishka Blazhic, South African ex-special forces operative Ellish, former Armenian intelligence officer Gretchen Frank, and most significantly, the elusive mastermind Horst Schiller, who directly killed Sarah.
However, his superiors, Moore and his deputy Caleb Horowitz, insist they are pursuing a broader objective—to dismantle Schiller’s entire terrorist network. Charlie senses he's being manipulated and denied true justice. With incriminating evidence about cover-ups that have caused hundreds of civilian deaths, Charlie blackmails Moore, threatening to leak classified files unless granted training and resources to go after Sarah’s killers himself. Reluctantly, Moore agrees, sending Charlie to "The Farm," the CIA’s training ground, under the watchful eyes of Colonel Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne).
During his intense training, Charlie's initial profile as a desk-bound cryptographer becomes clear: he is not a traditional killer. Colonel Henderson and Moore observe this, which leads Charlie to devise a different approach. Rather than direct assassination, he leverages his technical acumen to set elaborate traps for his targets—deadly but escapable scenarios that challenge conventional espionage tactics and heighten the tension.
Charlie's journey takes him across the globe, navigating dangerous encounters and outsmarting operatives intent on silencing him. He confronts the bitter realization that the agency meant to protect him and uphold justice has used deception and cruelty to protect its own interests. Throughout this international chase, Charlie struggles with his conscience—his acts of revenge cross lines into treason, and moments of self-revulsion, like vomiting, reveal the deep internal conflict he experiences.
In the climax, Charlie exacts his revenge by outwitting the ring of assassins and ultimately facing the mastermind Schiller. The film closes with him having disrupted the network responsible for Sarah’s death but at great personal and moral cost. The viewer is left with the haunting impression of a man transformed by loss and betrayal, who has ventured far beyond his amateur status into the dark, ambiguous world of vengeance and espionage.
The movie’s narrative is visceral and driven by Charlie’s transformation from a passive cryptographer into a resourceful, albeit conflicted, avenger. The emotional core—the grief over Sarah and the slow uncovering of systemic corruption in the CIA—imbues the story with a powerful dramatic tension that holds the viewer through every stark, tension-filled scene.
The ending of The Amateur (2025) shows CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller successfully tracking down and eliminating the terrorists who killed his wife Sarah, despite the obstacles and conspiracies within the agency. After confronting his superiors who tried to cover up politically motivated drone strikes and derail his quest for justice, Charlie personally avenges Sarah's death by taking out the four assailants one by one, including the mastermind Horst Schiller. The film closes with Charlie achieving his mission through his intelligence and new deadly skills, exposing corruption and finding closure.
In detailed narrative form:
The climax unfolds with Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer turned reluctant assassin, embarking on a meticulously planned vendetta against the terrorists responsible for his wife Sarah’s death. Early on, Charlie is devastated when CIA Director Samantha O'Brien informs him Sarah was killed in a terrorist attack in London. Despite sympathy from his superiors, Deputy Director Alex Moore and his deputy Caleb Horowitz maintain a detached stance, obstructing his involvement in the investigation.
Armed with classified intel from an anonymous source revealing Moore’s complicity in masking drone strikes as suicide bombings, Charlie uses this blackmail to coerce the CIA into training him at the infamous "The Farm." Laurence Fishburne’s character, Henderson, oversees Charlie’s transformation from a desk analyst into a field agent with lethal skills, while secretly planning to eliminate him once his usefulness ends.
Charlie systematically identifies the four terrorists: Belarusian Mishka Blazhic, South African ex-special forces operative Ellish, former Armenian intelligence officer Gretchen Frank, and Horst Schiller, the elusive mastermind who directly killed Sarah. He begins his hunt in Paris, confronting the first target in a tense scene that echoes espionage classics. Clever and resourceful, Charlie leverages his intelligence background and new training to outwit and take down each assailant in sequence, navigating dangerous European locales while evading or confronting CIA operatives sent to stop him.
The final confrontation with Schiller is emotionally charged. It unfolds with meticulous attention to detail—the clandestine meeting spots, the shadowy surveillance, and the psychological intensity of facing the man responsible for Sarah's death. Charlie's persistence and growth culminate as he eliminates Schiller, fulfilling his personal mission of vengeance.
Throughout the ending, the film showcases Charlie's evolution—from a grieving, underestimated cryptographer to a determined agent capable of operating independently. The sequence emphasizes his resolve to not only avenge Sarah but expose the corrupt actions of his superiors who sacrificed innocents for political agendas. The closing scenes depict Charlie overcoming layered conflicts: grieving husband, blackmailed operative, and moral avenger—leaving him in a moment of hard-earned closure amidst the fallout of the agency’s machinations.
The 2025 film The Amateur is not family friendly and is generally recommended for middle school age and older due to its content. It contains extended scenes of peril, violence, gunfights, explosions, car chases, and crashes, as well as disturbing images that could be upsetting for children or sensitive viewers.
Other content considerations include:
- Strong language, including the use of at least one strong profanity and several milder obscenities.
- Emotional scenes involving grief and loss, such as a man (the protagonist) waiting for his deceased wife’s body and expressing sorrow.
- Some scenes of physical distress, such as a vomiting scene.
- References to top-secret attacks, drone strikes, suicide bombers, and other intense spy/terrorism-related threats.
- The film explores the psychological and moral struggles of a CIA tech specialist forced into violence and revenge, which includes some intense dialogs and situations that address killing and revenge.
Given these points, parents and viewers sensitive to violence, strong language, and emotionally heavy themes should approach this film with caution. It is clearly intended for a mature audience rather than children or family viewing.
For the 2025 film The Amateur, there is no information in the available search results indicating that a dog dies in the movie. The plot synopsis and reviews focus primarily on CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller seeking revenge for his wife's death and do not mention any significant dog characters or incidents involving a dog dying.
Thus, based on the provided details, it can be concluded that the dog does not die in The Amateur (2025).