Everyone’s reveling in the heightened reality of Matthew Vaughn in a new featurette for his latest film, Argylle. The comedic spy thriller follows Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), the author of the real-life and in-universe Agent Argylle novels whose reclusive life full of quiet nights at home with her computer and her cat is interrupted by the goings-on of actual international spies. Reality blends with fiction as Conway’s books mirror the actions of said spies, and she’s forced to enter the world of espionage to keep safe and outfox the killers in this globe-trotting adventure. The video shared today sees the film’s stars, and even Vaughn himself, attempt to describe how bonkers a story the director has to offer.
Each actor seems to have a different way of describing Argylle, from crazy to mindblowing, smart, and sexy. Henry Cavill, who plays the titular agent, refers to it as a “heightened reality” where everything is grounded in real-world logic, but the events of the plot are still fantastical. There’s a brand of madness to it that Bryan Cranston says can only be associated with Vaughn, who’s no stranger to delivering wild spy movies with the Kingsman franchise. This time around, though, the director is using the setup of the Argylle novels and their mysterious writer to play around with the spy movie formula and blur fantasy and reality. At the end, Howard tells viewers to give the film a chance to impress, saying “Wherever you think this movie is going, you are wrong.”
Vaughn‘s wild spy story was written by Jason Fuchs and features a top-notch ensemble to help make it an edge-of-your-seat hit. Howard stars directly opposite Sam Rockwell‘s Aidan, a cat allergic spy and fan of Elly’s novels who accompanies the author and her kitty on their journey. Joining them are a few Kingsman alumni in Samuel L. Jackson and Sofia Boutella alongside John Cena, Ariana DeBose, Dua Lipa, and Catherine O’Hara. Vaughn wasn’t immune to a bit of nepotism though, and hired his daughter’s cat, Chip, to play Elly’s adorable puss Alfie.
‘Argylle’ Is Matthew Vaughn’s Attempt at a Date Night Classic
Coming off of 2021’s The King’s Man, Vaughn aimed to deliver the perfect date movie with Argylle. In an interview with Collider‘s Maggie Lovitt last year, he cited the Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner-led film Romancing the Stone as inspiration for the kind of escapist fantasy he wanted to depict. The result is something a little softer around the edges with a PG-13 rating, but that Vaughn believes will be bizarre and fun for anyone, regardless of whether they’re fans of spy movies or not.
Argylle hits theaters on February 2. Check out our full guide here for everything you need to know going into the spy comedy. While you wait, you can also watch the new featurette below.
via Collider