From the twisted mind of director Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman franchise, Kick-Ass) comes Argylle, a razor-witted, reality-bending, globe-encircling spy thriller. Produced by Universal Pictures, Argylle is based on a novel of the same name written by debutant novelist Elle Conway. The cast is headlined by Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Sofia Boutella, Dua Lipa, Ariana Debose and John Cena.

Howard is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books — which centre on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate — begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organisation, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by Aidan, a cat-allergic spy played by Sam Rockwell, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.

John Cena and Henry Cavill are part of the strong ensemble cast, directed by Matthew Vaughn.

The leader of a sinister rogue spy organisation known as The Division, Ritter is played by Bryan Cranston. Devious and dangerous, Ritter wants to know just what it is that Elly Conway knows and how she knows it — even if she doesn’t. Talking about casting Cranston as Ritter, Matthew Vaughn says, “I have been a huge fan of Cranston’s ever since I first saw him in Seinfeld and Malcolm in the Middle. Then, Breaking Bad came along and I could not believe it was the same guy. Bryan is a rare talent who can master drama like no other and tackle comedy with the same finesse. There is no genre or character he could not handle.”

Cranston was delighted for the opportunity to work with Vaughn. “When you are first starting as an actor you say ‘yes’ to everything because you need the job,” Cranston says. “If you are fortunate, you get to a place where you can choose. And if you do get to that place, you look for projects helmed by people with vision. Matthew has vision. It is comforting when your director has that level of confidence that Matthew possesses.”

Cranston was equally captivated by Jason Fuchs’ screenplay. “Matthew had incredible confidence in Jason Fuchs’ work, and when I read the script, I was blown away by the audacity of the plot, but I was also thoroughly entertained,” Cranston says. “On set, whenever anyone questioned a line or description in the script, Matthew would yell out, ‘Fuchs!’ The similarity to a ubiquitous expletive made me laugh every time!”

Cranston contributes a personal element to the script in the scene where Ritter is introduced, in a memorable fashion, talking about his beloved shotgun, Clementine. “I remembered the stories of my grandfather having this shotgun that was a family heirloom. It was old and probably would implode if fired,” says Cranston. “But I threw out the idea that Ritter named his shotgun after his mother, Clementine. It is our version of Rosebud, a homage if you will. The shotgun is particularly important to him — and it worked!”

The top-flight ensemble features — as Elly’s imagined book characters — Henry Cavill as agent Argylle; John Cena as Argylle’s best friend, Wyatt; Ariana Debose as their fearless field tech, Keira; Richard E. Grant as Fowler, a senior member of agent Argylle’s organisation, and Dua Lipa as Argylle’s elegant, lethal nemesis, Lagrange.

The film’s real-world characters include comedy icon Catherine O’Hara as Elly’s mother, Ruth; Sofia Boutella as Saba Al-Badr, the mysterious “Keeper of Secrets”, and the legendary Samuel L. Jackson as former CIA deputy director Alfred Solomon. Alfie is played by CHIP, the real-life cat of supermodel Claudia Vaughn (nee Schiffer).

Courtesy: Universal Pictures India