‘Bourne’ Meets ‘Jack Ryan’ in Jon Bernthal’s Gritty Spy Thriller Back on Streaming

Jason Bourne can beat a man unconscious with a rolled-up magazine, while Jack Ryan usually has the CIA behind him when things go wrong. The hero of this particular spy thriller has neither advantage, so that might make you wonder how on Earth he's going to find his way out of this one. He's a CIA codebreaker who knows he's hopeless in a fight, but after his wife is murdered, being smarter than the people he's hunting might be enough. And that's exactly the kind of pitch that makes audiences go gaga for a movie they might not have heard of prior to browsing their favorite streaming service.

That movie is The Amateur, and the Rami Malek and Jon Bernthal spy thriller is officially getting a new streaming home on HBO Max. The 2025 movie previously streamed on Hulu, and now gets another run on subscription streaming for anyone who missed it the first time around. Charlie Heller (Malek), a brilliant but deeply introverted decoder for the CIA working out of a basement office at headquarters in Langley, finds his life turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack. When his supervisors refuse to take action, he takes matters into his own hands, embarking on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible, his intelligence serving as the ultimate weapon for eluding his pursuers and achieving his revenge.

Who Stars in 'The Amateur'?

Malek (Mr. Robot) stars as Charlie alongside Rachel Brosnahan (Superman) as Sarah Heller, Bernthal (The Punisher) as Jackson O'Brien, Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) as Robert Henderson, Caitríona Balfe (Outlander) as Inquiline Davies, Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire) as Horst Schiller, Holt McCallany (Mindhunter) as CIA Deputy Director Alex Moore, and Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) as Samantha O'Brien.

Critics liked it, but audiences loved it. It holds a 61% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences were much more impressed, giving it an 87% verified score, but the box office returns of $96 million weren't quite enough to turn Malek's Charlie Heller into the next Jason Bourne, but at least the setup gave it something a little bit different from the usual spy fare. And one thing's for sure, it's well worth a watch on a Saturday night.

Starting October 17, The Amateur will be available on its new streaming home on HBO Max.