FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK: BALLERINA

June 6, 2025

Ana de Armas, Ballerina, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McShane, John Wick, Keanu Reeves, Norman Reedus

Words by JANE CROWTHER


That title is somewhat cumbersome but Ana de Armas’ off-shoot of the Keanu Reeves action franchise is thankfully more cut and thrust. No such exposition in this brisk 90-minute knock-em-down set during the third John Wick instalment which opens with flashback as a wide-eyed child watches her father killed by ‘The Chancellor’ (Gabriel Byrne) and is taken in by Angelica Huston’s ‘The Director’ of the Ruska Roma to be trained as both a ballet dancer and an assassin. Growing into de Armas’ Eve Macarro, the ballerina begins to question the ethos of the shadowy world in which she lives when she discovers a lead to The Chancellor during a protection gig. Like Wick before her, Eve may trade in death but the demise of a beloved sets her on a scorched earth path to revenge – tracking The Chancellor and his cult to New York, Prague and a delightful alpine village full of contract killers in cosy knitwear. 

Ana de Armas, Ballerina, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McShane, John Wick, Keanu Reeves, Norman Reedus
Lionsgate
Ana de Armas, Ballerina, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McShane, John Wick, Keanu Reeves, Norman Reedus
Lionsgate
Ana de Armas, Ballerina, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McShane, John Wick, Keanu Reeves, Norman Reedus
Larry D. Horricks/Lionsgate

Throughout her odyssey Eve does what she was taught at Ruska Roma – to ‘fight like a girl’. That means inventive deployment of household objects (pans, skates, ice picks, plates), using her smaller stature to outsmart hulking goons (grenade headache being a highlight) and fighting yin with yang (a fire hose vs flamethrower set piece sizzles). Like Wick, she seemingly has rubber bones and doesn’t spill a great deal of blood apart from the most attractive of grazes, but Ballerina isn’t much interested in logic or reality. Those who’ve already spent time at the Continental Hotel will understand the drill and de Armas displays as much charisma as Reeves in making relentless stunts entertaining (the Director might as well be saying ‘again’ repeatedly as she does during dance rehearsal). De Armas more than matches Reeves when they meet for a brief, bruising encounter and ensures he’s not missed when he departs.
Consolidating the action promise she showed as a scene-stealing Paloma in Bond’s No Time To Die, and sharpened in Ghosted and The Gray Man, de Armas is setting up Ballerina for a franchise and has zero figs to give about pausing for breath, let alone an exploration of who Eve is away from a fight. That will surely come in future films – which, based on the star’s assured performance, are as much of a given as the fact that this pirouetting killer will definitely make use of everything in an armoury (including a covetable flame retardant coat) when she breaks into it. ‘Cool,’ she nods in approval on opening a box of lethal weaponry. Well, indeed. 

Ana de Armas, Ballerina, Gabriel Byrne, Ian McShane, John Wick, Keanu Reeves, Norman Reedus
Murray Close/Lionsgate

Words by JANE CROWTHER
Photographs courtesy of LIONSGATE
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is in cinemas now

TRENDING

A House of Dynamite, Idris Elba, Jared Harris, Kathryn Bigelow, Rebecca Ferguson

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE

A House of Dynamite follows different US government workers during twenty life-changing minutes

Gangs of New York, Sandy Powell

SANDY POWELL

The award-winning British costume designer who regularly reteams with the cream of directors tells Arianne Phillips about starting out

BUY

You may also like…

amores perros, man on fire, mexico city, queer, romeo + juliet, spectre, y tu mamá también

ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO

Luca Guadagnino’s heady depiction of ’50s Mexico City in Queer is as seductive as the love affair at the heart of the tale.

Akinola Davies, Chibuike Marvelous Egbo, Efon Wini, Godwin Egbo, My Father’s Shadow, Sopé Dìrísù

SOPÉ DÌRÍSÙ

The Gangs Of London actor tells Hollywood Authentic about the special thrill of bringing the first Nigerian film to competition in Cannes…

james cusati-moyer, slave play, hollywood authentic x n.peal, greg williams

THE PLAYER

Photographs and interview by GREG WILLIAMSAs told to JANE CROWTHER Slave Play alumnus James Cusati-Moyer tells Hollywood Authentic about the art of ‘holding on tightly, letting go lightly’ and the seminal nature of a Rodgers & Hammerstein score. When Hollywood Authentic meets one of the leads of hit controversial West End show, Slave Play, in his dressing