---
title: "Allied"
year: 2016
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/allied"
fi1m_id: "allied"
imdb_id: "tt3640424"
tmdb_id: 369885
wikidata_id: "Q23681360"
fi1m_score: 57
critics_score: 58
critics_reviews: 23
published: "2026-10-02T23:17:32.822822+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-02T23:17:45.762491+00:00"
region: "SA"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Allied (2016)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis · 2h 04m · Action, Drama, War, Romance, Thriller

## Identity

Allied

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/allied
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** allied
- **IMDb ID:** tt3640424
- **TMDB ID:** 369885
- **Wikidata ID:** Q23681360
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3640424/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/369885, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23681360

**Fi1m score: 57** · Critics 58 from 23 reviews

*In a sentence:* Everyone in Casablanca is lying and only Marion Cotillard is any good at it

> Robert Zemeckis builds a wartime romance with real care, and for an hour in Casablanca it works. Then it moves to London, the question arrives, and we spent the second half watching Marion Cotillard act around Brad Pitt.

## Synopsis

French Morocco, 1942. Max Vatan (Brad Pitt), a Canadian officer, parachutes into the desert and makes for Casablanca, where he is to pose as the husband of Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard), a Resistance agent already known to the city’s German officers. Their job is to get into the German ambassador’s party and kill him. She coaches his Parisian French, which is not good enough; a German officer, Hobar (August Diehl), tests it over cards. They rehearse a marriage in a car during a sandstorm, and the rehearsal takes. In London, Max marries her against the advice of his commanding officer Frank Heslop (Jared Harris). Settled in Hampstead with a baby daughter, he is called in and told his wife may not be who she says she is.

## Review

Robert Zemeckis has made a wartime spy romance in the old manner: two agents thrown together in Casablanca in 1942, a pretend marriage that becomes a real one, and then a question about whether the woman was ever who she said. Steven Knight’s script lays it out cleanly and Zemeckis dresses it with care. For about an hour it is a pleasure. The rest is a well-made film about a man waiting for an answer, and we found the waiting dull.

The Casablanca stretch is the good part. Max Vatan (Brad Pitt), a Canadian officer dropped into the desert, meets his pretend wife Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard) in a café full of the Germans she has spent weeks charming, and she corrects his Parisian French the first night. Gary Freeman builds a city of cream walls, ceiling fans and rooftop beds, and Joanna Johnston puts Cotillard in gowns cut so that most critics turn when she walks. Don Burgess keeps the camera moving, and in the shot the film has been built around it circles a parked car while a sandstorm wipes out the desert behind the glass. It is a show-off shot and it works, because the two people inside have stopped pretending at exactly the moment the world outside goes blank.

Cotillard is the reason to stay. Marianne is a woman whose job is to be believed, and Cotillard plays her so that we can see both the woman and the act she is putting on, and keeps us guessing which is which. At the ambassador’s party she laughs at a German joke a half-beat late and recovers. August Diehl has one scene as Hobar, an officer who tests Max’s French over a card table, and it is the tightest five minutes in the film.

Pitt is harder to defend. Max is written as a man who keeps everything in. Pitt keeps everything in too, so there is nothing to watch. He is fine when the part asks him to be handsome in a good coat; when London arrives and the script asks him to be frightened for his marriage, his face barely moves and the film leans on Cotillard and the music to tell us what he feels. Jared Harris, as his commanding officer Frank Heslop, and Simon McBurney, as the S.O.E. man who puts the accusation to him in a windowless room, do more with a few lines each. Matthew Goode has a single scene as a burned pilot in a hospital bed, and it is the only moment in the London half where the war feels like something that happens to bodies.

Here is what got us. The Hampstead party under the Blitz, and then the birth of their daughter in the open outside a hospital as the bombers go over and the sky lights up, moved us more than we expected; Burgess lifts the camera above the beds and the nurses, and for a minute the film’s size and its feeling are the same thing. Then the accusation came, and we noticed we were sitting calmly waiting for the result when we should have been dreading it.

The second half is where it goes wrong. Knight turns Marianne from a character into a puzzle, and Max into the man driving about solving it, and once that happens she has little to do except be watched for signs. Mick Audsley and Jeremiah O’Driscoll cut the Casablanca hour with patience and let scenes settle; the London hour is a list of errands, each shot handsomely and each ending where we expected. Alan Silvestri’s strings swoon in Morocco and tighten in England, but in the back half the score is telling us the stakes while the picture stands still.

Zemeckis has always been at his best when a clever camera is carrying a feeling: the clock tower in [*Back to the Future*](https://film.one/film/back-to-the-future) (1985), the raft in [*Cast Away*](https://film.one/film/cast-away) (2000). Here the camera is as clever as ever and it is carrying less. We will not say how it ends. See it for the first hour, for Cotillard, for the sandstorm and the night of the bombs. At home Pitt’s stillness is easier to take, and the gowns lose nothing. It runs 124 minutes and carries a 15.

*Fi1m score 57, published 2 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics find Allied a handsome, old-fashioned wartime romance that does not quite move them. The reviews lean mildly positive, with ten in favour, seven mixed and six against, and almost everyone reaches for the words old-fashioned at some point. Praise settles on Robert Zemeckis’s craft: the period production design, the patient suspense sequences, and a camera move in a desert sandstorm that Empire singles out. Marion Cotillard’s performance is the element most consistently admired across the board.

The reservations gather around the central romance. Several critics say Brad Pitt is stiff and that the two leads have no convincing chemistry, and a few complain that the film loses momentum in its second half. The spread is wide. Deadline and Consequence find it thoroughly entertaining, while The Hollywood Reporter and The New Yorker find it inert and dramatically empty. The British press is notably cooler than the American, with The Guardian, The i Paper and the Evening Standard all unimpressed.

## Straight answers

**Is Allied worth watching?**

*Allied* is worth watching for its first hour in Casablanca and for Marion Cotillard, but not for much after that, and we scored it 57. Robert Zemeckis builds the wartime romance with real care, and the sandstorm scene and the night of the bombs moved us more than we expected. Once the story moves to London and the question about Marianne arrives, Brad Pitt barely moves his face and we were waiting rather than dreading.

**How long is Allied, and what is it rated?**

*Allied* runs 2h 04m. It is an action and drama film.

**Where can I watch Allied in Saudi Arabia?**

*Allied* is not on any streaming or rental service in Saudi Arabia at the moment. It is available in 52 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Allied, and is it suitable for children?**

*Allied* carries a 15 certificate in the UK and an R in the US, so it is not for children. The violence is wartime: an assassination at a party, the Blitz over Hampstead, a burned pilot in a hospital bed, and a plot that turns on suspicion rather than horror. Teenagers of fifteen and up will find nothing here they cannot take; it is more a slow spy drama than a frightening one.

**How does Allied compare to Notorious?**

*Allied* and [*Notorious*](https://film.one/film/notorious) tell much the same story, a spy romance in which a marriage becomes a question of trust, and Hitchcock's film is the better one by some distance. *Allied* has the handsomer surfaces and Cotillard, but its second half is a list of errands; *Notorious* does the suspicion plot in a hundred minutes and keeps it tense throughout. Watch *Allied* for the Casablanca hour, *Notorious* for the whole thing.

**What should I watch after Allied?**

After *Allied*, try [*Notorious*](https://film.one/film/notorious) (1946, Fi1m 92): Hitchcock’s spy romance does the suspicion-in-the-marriage plot in a hundred minutes and does it better. Then [*Lust, Caution*](https://film.one/film/lust-caution) (2007, Fi1m 76): Ang Lee’s occupied-Shanghai thriller, where seduction is the mission and the cost is real; and [*Black Book*](https://film.one/film/black-book) (2006, Fi1m 80): Paul Verhoeven’s Dutch Resistance film: faster, nastier and a great deal more fun.

### Reviews we read (23)

- **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (B): Dowd finds Allied an admirable old-fashioned thriller that ultimately fails to deliver a genuine emotional punch. He praises Zemeckis’s suspenseful set pieces and visual craftsmanship, while faulting Brad Pitt’s flat performance. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/brad-pitt-and-marion-cotillard-headline-the-rousingly-o-1798189606)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (70/100, inferred): Chang finds the film a handsome, fitfully effective old-fashioned espionage romance with a touching emotional finish. He praises Cotillard’s enigmatic performance and Zemeckis’ visual craftsmanship, while noting Pitt’s stiffness and the film’s limited perspective. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-allied-review-20161119-story.html)
- **Radio Times**, Stella Papamichael (70/100, inferred): The available headline suggests a favorable verdict on this glossy wartime romance. It singles out the production’s class and seductive Golden Age appeal. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/allied-review-a-production-with-plenty-of-class-and-the-seductive-appeal-of-hollywoods-golden-age/)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (70/100, inferred): Gleiberman finds the old-fashioned espionage romance tense and absorbing, though its climax fails to make the film emotionally persuasive. He praises the supple craft and the chemistry between Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. [Read](https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/allied-review-brad-pitt-marion-cotillard-1201918954/)
- **Vulture**, David Edelstein (70/100, inferred): Edelstein finds Allied a charming, old-fashioned romantic espionage film, though it is more a beautiful vintage trifle than a substantial work. He praises the leads’ appeal and period clothes, as well as Steven Knight’s clever twists and dialogue. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2016/11/review-allied-is-a-beautiful-vintage-trifle.html)
- **Screen Daily**, Tim Grierson (64/100, inferred): The available page does not reveal Grierson’s verdict. No praise or complaint can be identified from the accessible text. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/allied-review/5111236.article)
- **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The page content is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be established. No specific praise or complaint is available from the material provided. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/movies/allied-review-brad-pitt-marion-cotillard.html)
- **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (2.5/4): The review finds the film’s central mystery too linear and insufficiently suspenseful, despite its bleak view of wartime systems. It praises the leads’ performances and Zemeckis’s large-scale visuals in intimate scenes. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/allied/)
- **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (3/3/2): Jenkins finds the wartime romance glossy but emotionally hollow and ultimately forgettable. He singles out Brad Pitt’s movie-star presence as a brief pleasure, while criticizing the film’s lack of feeling and psychological depth. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/allied)
- **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (3/5): The review describes the film as a watchable, old-fashioned WWII romantic thriller. It criticizes the lack of chemistry between Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/allied)
- **Empire**, Phil de Semlyen (45/100, inferred): The review finds the old-school thriller underpowered, despite its moments. It praises Cotillard’s performance and singles out a striking camera move in a desert sandstorm. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/allied-review/)
- **The Guardian**, Xan Brooks (2/5): Brooks calls the film a passionless, plodding thriller that loses momentum in its second half. He singles out Brad Pitt’s flat performance and the leads’ unconvincing chemistry. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/27/allied-review-brad-pitt-marion-cotillard)
- **The i Paper**, Matthew Turner (★★): The review finds the film flat and lacking in substance, chiefly because Pitt and Cotillard have no convincing chemistry. It praises the sumptuous production design and a Hitchcockian murder sequence, but says the style cannot rescue the sluggish direction. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/allied-review-32926)
- **Evening Standard**, David Sexton (30/100, inferred): Sexton finds the wartime romance stagey and emotionally unconvincing, with the film failing to escape its stars’ off-screen drama. He praises the lovely Lysander aircraft as a standout detail. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/allied-film-review-the-spy-who-might-have-loved-me-a3404821.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (20/100, inferred): Rooney finds the film inert and emotionally unconvincing, with sluggish pacing and little romantic chemistry. He praises Marion Cotillard’s magnetic presence, which gives occasional affecting moments to an otherwise weak central romance. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/allied-review-948331/)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (20/100, inferred): Brody finds the film dramatically empty despite its emotional pull, arguing that nostalgia overwhelms its human dimension. He particularly criticizes its cardboard heroes and lifeless treatment of their inner lives. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/in-allied-empty-nostalgia-for-american-heroes)
- **Consequence**, Blake Goble (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it damn fine entertainment, praising its lively mix of old-fashioned espionage and modern style. He particularly singles out Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard’s sharp, emotionally engaging performances. [Read](https://consequence.net/2016/11/film-review-allied/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (90/100, inferred): Hammond calls Allied a supremely entertaining, romantic spy thriller and a glorious return to classic storytelling. He especially praises the performances of Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, along with the film’s production design and score. [Read](https://deadline.com/2016/11/allied-review-brad-pitt-marion-cotillard-robert-zemeckis-1201858172/)
- **Paste**, Jacob Oller (7.8/10): Oller gives the film a positive verdict, praising its tense, carefully constructed spycraft and relationship drama. He singles out the visual storytelling as a strength, though he finds some showy camera work and romantic spectacle overdone. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/allied/allied)
- **Den of Geek**, Jake Wilson (3 out of 5): The review finds Allied perfectly enjoyable but not the tension-filled tour-de-force its trailers suggest. It praises Marion Cotillard’s captivating performance and Zemeckis’s patient buildup of tension, while finding Brad Pitt less convincing when emotionally stretched. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/allied-review-2/)
- **HeyUGuys** (70/100, inferred): The critic finds Allied a thoroughly gripping drama whose suspense overcomes several dated or clichéd elements. They praise its Hitchcockian tension, carefully planted clues, and palpable chemistry between Pitt and Cotillard. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/allied-review/)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (C): Goldberg calls the film a lackluster missed opportunity, especially because its central conflict loses dramatic interest in the second half. He praises Marion Cotillard’s intense performance, but faults the story for reducing her character to a puzzle for Max to solve. [Read](https://collider.com/allied-review-brad-pitt/)
- **The Wrap** (25/100, inferred): The critic finds the film handsome but ultimately thin, emotionally unengaging, and burdened by creaky suspense. They single out Pitt and Cotillard’s lack of chemistry and awkward performances as a central weakness. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/allied-review-brad-pitt/)

## Details

- **Director:** Robert Zemeckis
- **Director:** Robert Zemeckis
- **Writer:** Steven Knight
- **Cinematography:** Don Burgess
- **Editor:** Mick Audsley, Jeremiah O'Driscoll
- **Music:** Alan Silvestri
- **Production design:** Gary Freeman
- **Costume design:** Joanna Johnston
- **Producer:** Graham King, Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey
- **Cast:** Brad Pitt as Max Vatan; Marion Cotillard as Marianne Beauséjour; Jared Harris as Frank Heslop; Simon McBurney as S.O.E. Official; Lizzy Caplan as Bridget Vatan; Daniel Betts as George Kavanagh; Matthew Goode as Guy Sangster; Camille Cottin as Monique
- **Runtime:** 2h 04m
- **First release (the US):** 9 November 2016
- **Genres:** Action, Drama, War, Romance, Thriller
- **Budget:** $106 million
- **Box office:** $120 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hQGiozwHiI

## Where to watch in Saudi Arabia

Not streaming, renting or buying in Saudi Arabia at the last check.

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2017: Best Costume Design (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Notorious* (1946), Fi1m 92: Hitchcock’s spy romance does the suspicion-in-the-marriage plot in a hundred minutes and does it better. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/notorious.md)
- *Lust, Caution* (2007), Fi1m 76: Ang Lee’s occupied-Shanghai thriller, where seduction is the mission and the cost is real. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/lust-caution.md)
- *Black Book* (2006), Fi1m 80: Paul Verhoeven’s Dutch Resistance film: faster, nastier and a great deal more fun. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/black-book.md)
- *Army of Shadows* (1969): Melville’s Resistance film, grey and unforgiving, about what the work does to the people.
- *Eye of the Needle* (1981): A German spy, a Scottish island and a lonely wife; Donald Sutherland at his coldest.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/allied