Movie review
August 9, 2023 · 122 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Heart of Stone.
Woke representation / casting
International cast with women and non-white actors (Indian hacker, Black leader, East Asian agent) in prominent tech and leadership roles fits the global agency premise; no marketing emphasis on quotas, identity signaling, or mismatches with story logic.
Woke political dialogue
Sparse dialogue on trust, betrayal, and power; one minor noted line critiquing "men like you" in viewer commentary, but nothing explicit, activist, or central to the narrative.
Identity-driven story themes
Core story is espionage thriller about loyalty, AI misuse for greed versus peacekeeping, and redemption; no race, gender, sexuality, or identity-based plotlines or arcs.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Portrays borderless surveillance agency using AI positively for "maximizing lives saved" without questioning interventionism or linking it to anti-Western, anti-capitalist, or patriarchal critiques.
Review
Heart of Stone is a 2023 Netflix spy action thriller starring Gal Gadot as Rachel Stone, an operative for a secretive global peacekeeping agency called the Charter. She races to stop a hacker and a traitor from stealing and misusing the agency's powerful AI system known as The Heart, which guides missions to maximize lives saved. The film delivers standard globe-trotting action, twists, and light AI ethics without prominent identity-driven messaging, girlboss lectures, or political framing that stands out to viewers.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Fully original story with no changes to established characters, canon, source material, or historical figures.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Very limited scattered comments on female-led action or diverse cast; no organized right-leaning complaints accusing the film of DEI messaging, identity politics, or propaganda. Most feedback targets generic plotting.
Creator track record context
Allison Schroeder's Hidden Figures centers identity and systemic barriers; Greg Rucka has written feminist-leaning and inclusive female characters in comics; director Tom Harper and most producers show no activist patterns.
Production
