Cleaner (2025) is a psychological action-thriller with a grimy soul and a surgical mind. Directed by Lucas Vane, this mind-bender plays like a noir fever dream trapped in a steel box, with echoes of *John Wick*, *Memento*, and *The Machinist*. It's about memory, mess, and what happens when a hitman starts cleaning up the very lives he used to destroy.
Plot Summary
Elias Trent is a contract cleaner — not just for blood, but for secrets. When a high-profile tech mogul winds up dead under suspicious circumstances, Elias is called in to sanitize the scene. But in the process, he uncovers evidence linking him to crimes he doesn’t remember committing. With pieces of his mind missing and a ledger full of sins he may or may not own, Elias races to piece together his fractured past — all while being hunted by a private militia and haunted by a child’s voice he can’t explain.
Character Analysis
Elias Trent (Oscar Isaac)
Brooding, brilliant, and broken. A man who knows how to scrub away the blood but not the guilt. Isaac delivers a masterclass in subtle breakdowns and quiet fury.
Asha Lennox (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)
A rogue neuroscientist with ties to Elias' erased memories. Sharp, layered, and quietly devastating. She might be his last ally — or the one who wiped his slate clean.
Director Harlan Nix (Giancarlo Esposito)
Cold as bleach. The man behind the memory suppression program, orchestrating a cleanup on a national scale. Every word feels like a chess move.
Themes and Messages
| Theme | Description |
|---|---|
| Erasure and Identity | Without our memories, who are we really? The film explores this with ruthless elegance. |
| Guilt as Residue | No matter how clean the surface, the past seeps through. It's not about stains — it's about shadows. |
| Corruption of Technology | The tech that promised privacy now weaponizes memory like data. |
| Redemption Through Exposure | Elias must expose the truth not just to the world, but to himself. |
Cinematography and Direction
Lucas Vane crafts a visual paradox — sterile, clinical surfaces contrasted by glitchy flashbacks and brutal close-ups. Every frame is cold until the violence erupts, spilling heat into the aesthetic. Color grading is sharp and washed out — until blood, then it screams. The camera often tracks Elias from behind, making us complicit in his sins.
Performances
Oscar Isaac: Controlled chaos. His eyes tell two different stories — what he remembers and what he fears he did. One of his most introspective roles.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw: Smart and soulful. She never plays it safe. Her final monologue might be the best-written scene of the film.
Giancarlo Esposito: As methodical and menacing as ever. Gives "evil executive" a whole new shade of terrifying.
Critical Reception
Critics are polarized. Some praise it as a slick, cerebral thrill ride with arthouse ambition. Others find the narrative cold and fragmented. But most agree the film’s technical mastery and Oscar Isaac’s performance deserve recognition. It’s being called “Inception’s nihilistic cousin” by one review, and that feels spot-on.
Controversial Opinions
Some believe the movie's ambiguous ending — where Elias sees a version of himself cleaning a room that doesn’t exist — implies he’s still in the program. Others think he broke free and the image is just trauma's echo. The debate rages online. There’s also backlash over the depiction of memory alteration as a tool for corporate assassination — timely, but disturbing.
FAQs
- Is this connected to the 2007 film “Cleaner”?
No, entirely separate story. Different tone, different world. - Is it sci-fi or thriller?
It’s both. More grounded than futuristic, but the tech is central to the plot. - Is there a lot of action?
It’s not constant, but when it hits — it hits hard. Brutal, efficient, and impactful. - Is the ending open-ended?
Yes, but deliberately so. It invites interpretation and rewatching. - Does Oscar Isaac sing?
Surprisingly, yes — in a surreal scene that blends memory and grief. It lands like a punch to the gut.