The 355 is a movie you won’t want to miss this year. The film is directed by Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Dark Phoenix) and has an impeccable, all-star international female cast, including Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz and Fan Bingbing. The film follows a quartet of multinational female spies from different secret intelligences around the globe that must band together to locate a secret weapon tech-device, which could start World War III. Collectively, these lethal women form the 355, honouring the code name of the original Agent 355, George Washington’s first female spy, who helped America win the American Revolution in the 18th century. 

The glamourised spy thriller stars Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain in the lead role. Building off her previous work in films like Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021), Chastain continues to prove herself as one of the most talented actresses of her generation. This is her movie, and she revels in the role of Mason Brown, aka “Mace”, an American CIA agent that joins forces with Maria Schmidt (played by Diane Kruger), a German agent for the BND. Diane Kruger picked up the Cannes Best Actress Award for In the Fade (2017) and she also played a pivotal role in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009). In The 355 she really makes an impression as a beautiful assassin that is slick and calculated.

Lupita Nyong’o, the Kenyan-Mexican actress that gained fame as the star of films like 12 Years a Slave (2013), Black Panther (2018) and Us (2020), brings a lot of life and energy to her role as Agent Khadijah, an IT cyber-tech specialist for British intelligence, also known as MI6. You can count on her to be the real scene stealer in this film. Spanish actress and Academy Award winner Penélope Cruz plays the supporting role of psychologist Graciela Rivera, who works as an agent for Columbia’s DNI. Her character is the only one in the group without combat training. Cruz recently gained awards buzz for her role in Parallel Mothers (2022). She took home the Oscar for best supporting actress in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).

And last, but not least, there’s Fan Bingbing as Lin Mi Sheng, a Chinese agent for the MSS. Fan Bingbing is a Chinese fashion icon, and her most notable work includes the television series The Empress of China (2014), Buddha Mountain (2010), and Lost in Beijing (2007). You might also remember her small role as Blink in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Director Simon Kinberg brings this film to life with a keen visual eye for stylish kinetic action sequences. The battles and fights are choreographed and executed perfectly, making it staggering and exciting to watch. Jessica Chastain originally pitched the idea of an all-female espionage team to Simon Kinberg while they were filming X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). Jessica Chastain has long been a feminist activist and supporter of gender equality in Hollywood. The 355 gives its characters the power to challenge and subvert the male James Bond franchise and take total control of expectations – this elevates it above other movies of the genre. It helps that the cast really sells it, too. The film is exceptionally high-powered, but with additional layers that make it truly distinctive. The 355 features a fun female ensemble cast that have amazing chemistry together, whether they are on a globetrotting espionage mission, or are just reminiscing over a round of drinks. In terms of action, drama and excitement, the movie pulls no punches, and delivers something unique.

The 355 isn’t just a spy film done right – it’s a female-led espionage thriller for the ages.