First Trailer for 'The Covenant' Reveals an Intense and Dedicated Jake Gyllenhaal Rescuing His Military Interpreter

by Darian Scalamoni

    Jake Gyllenhaal has long been one of my favorite actors in the business. I will watch pretty much anything that the Oscar-nominated actor will star in, but his latest collaboration with filmmaker Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, Snatch) looks to be one of the biggest potential surprises of 2023. 

    The Covenant stars Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain) as Army Sergeant John Kinley who works with an Afghan interpreter Ahmed (played by Dar Salim) and is left for dead by the Taliban before Ahmed goes through Herculean lengths to save his life. Following Kinley's recovery, he learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage into America like they were promised so he goes on a mission to retrieve the one man who insured that he would keep on living. The trailer is intense and looks to combine the sensibilities of Ritchie's fast camera editing as well as the nuances of Gyllenhaal for a great feature.

    This marks Gyllenhaal's third war-related film working with an auteur such as Ritchie. He previously worked with Sam Mendes in the 2005 war film Jarhead, as well as Jim Sheridan for Brothers, which explored PTSD and also included fellow Oscar-nominee Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire. The Covenant is one of two films Ritchie has releasing in 2023 as his delayed film, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre released next month. He begins filming his next feature The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare later this month. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal is currently wrapping up his remake of Road House which also features Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior and former UFC champion, Conor McGregor in his acting debut.

    Gyllenhaal and Salim are joined in the cast by Alexander Ludwig, Emily Beecham and The Boys star Antony Starr. The Covenant will be released in theaters everywhere on April 21. Check out the trailer below for The Covenant!