When honor is stripped away, how far would you go to protect those you love? Discharged against his will from the U.S. Special Forces, James Harper (Chris Pine) finds himself adrift, his career and future abruptly taken. Struggling to support his family and drowning in debt, Harper accepts a lucrative offer to join a private security firm. Reuniting with his best friend (Ben Foster) under the leadership of a calculated contractor-in-chief (Kiefer Sutherland), Harper is promised the work will be precise and purpose-driven, involving matters of national security.
The mission, infiltrating a Berlin lab linked to suspect activities, offers the promise of quick success, but the covert operation takes a deadly turn. Betrayed and on the run, Harper finds himself trapped in a whirlwind of danger, uncovering layers of deceit as he fights for survival and a way back to those he loves. Swedish director Tarik Saleh injects the film with gripping intensity, drawing comparisons to ’70s-era paranoia thrillers and Bourne-style action, complete with brutal fight sequences, sleek pacing, and an unflinching glimpse into the moral void of clandestine operations.
The Contractor dives into the heavy consequences of Harper’s choices while echoing the struggles of veterans thrust into a world that so often abandons them. With its stinging physicality and tightly wound tension, this isn’t just a tale of survival—it’s a story about loyalty, exploitation, and the human cost of turning men into weapons. Will Harper’s relentless resolve be enough to outlast the forces that betrayed him?
On what he hopes the audience would take away from the film, Chris Pine said in an interview with IGN, “I want people to think about what we do to our veterans and how we treat them. What we do to men and women who we train to kill after their time in war zones are over. The mental health of our veterans. The ideas of freedom and democracy and what it means to be an American, what it means to be a man, what it means to be a male warrior, and what it means to raise a boy. These are all things I want people to take away from it.”
This film marked Ben Foster’s third time working with Chris Pine. On the experience working with a friend, he told Looper, “It’s a joy to work with people you dig and respect, and we’re grownups who somehow haven’t given up the makeup game — make it up — and it’s really nice when you don’t have to make up caring about somebody. It goes for any job, you’d rather do it with people you respect and know have your back and go ask some questions together.”
Don’t miss out on experiencing The Contractor, streaming on Lionsgate Play.