Questions

What is the plot?

Joanna "Joey" Locke wakes up late in London and rushes to get ready for work as a window cleaner at One Canada Square, a skyscraper in Canary Wharf. She is an ex-British Army soldier and has an autistic older brother, Michael, whom she cares for. Earlier that day, Michael was expelled from his care home after hacking their system to expose corruption. Because Joey is late, she cannot take Michael home and instead brings him to her workplace, leaving him in the lobby under the watch of a security guard. Her supervisor is angry about her tardiness and forces her to work an extra hour beyond her scheduled shift.

Joey begins cleaning windows high up on the building, suspended by ropes. While she works alongside her colleague Noah, Michael slips away from the lobby and tries to join her outside. Meanwhile, inside the building, the Agnian Energy Company is hosting a shareholder gala attended by company owners Geoffrey and Gerald Milton and many guests. Suddenly, a radical environmental activist group called Earth Revolution, of which Noah is a member, launches a violent takeover of the gala. They use sleeping gas canisters to incapacitate many people and take the administration and guests hostage.

The leader of the activist group, Marcus Blake, intends to expose Agnian Energy’s hypocrisy. The company publicly promotes a shift to renewable energy but secretly engages in environmental exploitation and has even killed arrested activists to silence them. During the takeover, Geoffrey Milton tries to negotiate with the activists, but Noah kills him despite Blake’s orders to the contrary. Gerald Milton escapes and hides somewhere in the building.

A power struggle ensues within the activist group. Noah disagrees with Blake’s idealistic approach and murders Blake along with his loyal followers. Noah then assumes leadership of the group. To maintain control and prevent police intervention, Noah rigs the hostages with explosives connected to a dead man’s switch that is synchronized to his heartbeat. If Noah dies or loses consciousness, the explosives will detonate, killing everyone inside.

Joey, still suspended outside on the building’s facade, realizes the severity of the situation. She must use her military training and climbing skills to navigate the exterior and find a way to rescue the hostages, including her brother Michael, who is somewhere inside the building. She faces the challenge of working against time and the threat of the explosives while contending with her supervisor’s pressure and the dangerous terrorists inside.

As the police surround the building, they are warned by the terrorists that any attempt to storm the building will trigger the bomb vests, causing mass casualties and destruction. Joey takes it upon herself to act covertly, climbing and entering the building through windows to avoid detection. She moves floor by floor, encountering hostages, terrorists, and obstacles. She uses her combat skills to silently incapacitate some terrorists and protect hostages.

Joey eventually locates Michael, who is frightened but unharmed. She reassures him and plans their escape. Meanwhile, Noah becomes increasingly unstable and paranoid, aware that his heartbeat controls the explosives. Joey exploits this by creating situations that stress Noah, attempting to disrupt his control over the dead man’s switch.

In a tense confrontation, Joey faces Noah directly. She maneuvers to isolate him from the hostages and uses her military training to disarm him physically. During the struggle, she manages to sever the connection between the explosives and Noah’s heartbeat, neutralizing the bomb threat. Noah is subdued and arrested by the arriving police.

With the threat eliminated, Joey leads Michael and the surviving hostages to safety. The film ends with Joey and Michael outside the building, safe but emotionally shaken, as emergency responders tend to the aftermath of the siege.

What is the ending?

⚠ Spoiler – click to reveal

The ending of Cleaner (2025) concludes with Joey successfully stopping Noah’s deadly plan, saving the hostages, and exposing the corrupt energy company’s crimes. Noah dies after falling from a high floor, and Joey escapes the building with her brother Michael. The incriminating files about the company’s executives are leaked anonymously, revealing their corruption to the public.

Expanded narrative of the ending scene by scene:

As the hostage crisis escalates inside the towering One Canada Square building, Joey, the window cleaner with a military background, finds herself in a desperate situation. After the eco-terrorist group Earth Revolution, led by Marcus Blake and later usurped by Noah, takes the building’s executives and guests hostage, tensions rise sharply. Noah, who has taken control, rigs the hostages with explosives linked to a dead man’s switch synchronized to his heartbeat, threatening mass death if he is killed.

Joey initially struggles to get inside the building to intervene. She tries breaking a window but fails until her autistic brother Michael, who has been with her throughout the ordeal, uses his toy hammer to break the glass, allowing her entry. Together, they navigate through the building’s hostile environment, fighting their way to the security room. There, Michael accesses files that document the executives’ extensive corruption, including bribery, environmental exploitation, and even murder to silence whistleblowers.

Meanwhile, one of the hostages, Zee, realizes Noah’s plan to kill everyone inside, including the activists themselves. She attempts to escape but is shot. Joey responds by shooting the assailant and securing the security room. Knowing that killing Noah would trigger the explosives, Joey instead steals Noah’s watch, which controls the dead man’s switch, to prevent the detonation.

The climax unfolds as Joey confronts Noah. In the ensuing struggle, Noah falls from a high floor to his death. With Noah gone and the threat neutralized, Joey rescues the hostages and exits the building safely with Michael. Outside, Officer Claire, who has been assisting Joey covertly, advises her to hide the incriminating files from the authorities, implying that the truth might be suppressed if officially revealed.

Despite this, the files eventually leak anonymously, exposing the energy company’s executives and their crimes to the public. Joey and Michael survive the ordeal, having not only saved lives but also brought to light the corruption behind the corporate facade.

In summary, Joey’s fate is survival and moral victory, Michael remains by her side, and Noah dies as a result of his own violent actions. The executives’ fate is public disgrace through the leaked files, while the hostage crisis ends with the hostages saved. The film closes on a note of exposing truth and justice amid corporate and environmental corruption.

Is there a post-credit scene?

⚠ Spoiler – click to reveal

Yes, the 2025 movie Cleaner does have a post-credit scene. After the main climax where Joey prevents a deadly explosion and the corrupt executives are exposed, the final scene shows Joey and her brother Michael on a peaceful beach. They discuss the Marvel character Thanos, drawing a parallel between his villainy motivated by environmental concerns and the film’s themes about extremism and good intentions gone wrong. This conversation underscores the movie’s nuanced message about the dangers of ideological purity and extremism, even when rooted in valid causes like environmental activism.

Who is the main protagonist in Cleaner (2025) and what is her background?

The main protagonist is Joanna "Joey" Locke, an ex-soldier turned window cleaner in London. She has a military background and uses her climbing skills, developed from escaping an abusive household as a child, to work on high-rise buildings. She also cares for her autistic younger brother Michael.

What motivates the extremist group Earth Revolution to take hostages in the film?

Earth Revolution, an environmental activist group, takes 300 hostages at an energy company's gala to expose the corruption of Agnian Energy. They aim to reveal the company's hypocrisy in promoting environmental exploitation and pollution while publicly claiming to support renewable energy. The extremist leader Marcus Blake and later Noah escalate the violence to send a radical message.

How does Joey's brother Michael become involved in the hostage situation?

Michael, Joey's autistic brother, is left waiting in the lobby of the Agnian Energy skyscraper while Joey works. During the hostage takeover, he slips away and attempts to join Joey outside on the building. He later helps Joey gain access to the building by smashing a window with a toy hammer, playing a crucial role in the rescue efforts.

What internal conflict occurs within the activist group during the hostage crisis?

Within Earth Revolution, Noah, a member who disagrees with leader Marcus Blake's idealism, kills Blake and his loyalists to usurp leadership. Noah then rigs the hostages with explosives connected to a dead man's switch synchronized to his heartbeat, escalating the threat and turning the group more violent and unstable.

What role does Joey play in resolving the hostage crisis, and what challenges does she face?

Joey uses her military skills and window-cleaning expertise to attempt a rescue from outside the building, suspended 50 stories up. She faces physical danger, including failed window-breaking attempts and gunfire. She must navigate the threat of explosives linked to the hostages and confront Noah to prevent mass murder, all while protecting her brother and exposing the company's corruption.

Is this family friendly?

The movie Cleaner (2025) is rated R for violence, language throughout, and brief drug use, indicating it is not family friendly for children or sensitive viewers.

Potentially objectionable or upsetting aspects include:

  • Violence: The film involves a hostage situation with criminal activists, including threats of mass murder and intense action sequences.
  • Language: Frequent strong language is present throughout the movie.
  • Brief drug use: There is some depiction of drug use, though brief.
  • Tense and distressing scenes: The hostage crisis and extremist threats create suspenseful and potentially disturbing moments.
  • Emotional themes: The protagonist deals with family struggles, including caring for an autistic brother and confronting difficult personal and workplace conflicts.

Because of these elements, Cleaner is not suitable for children or viewers sensitive to violence, strong language, or intense thriller situations.