Deep Cover follows an improv teacher who gets pulled into a covert mission, impersonating a gangster with help from her students in this offbeat action comedy.

Before I fluked my way into film criticism, I came up through improv and sketch comedy. So it should come as no surprise that a film like this instantly grabbed my attention. It’s not just that Deep Cover is about improvisers—it’s that it throws them into a world they have absolutely no business navigating: London’s criminal underworld. And if that premise wasn’t enough to pique interest, the film also boasts Colin Trevorrow as both producer and co-writer. While he isn’t in the director’s chair this time, he reunites with Jurassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard, who brings just the right balance of charm, panic, and command to the lead role.

In Deep Cover, Kat Bryant (Bryce Dallas Howard), a struggling stand-up comic and improv teacher in London, is approached by Detective Sergeant Graham Billings (Sean Bean) to assist in a sting operation—one that hinges on her ability to pretend, perform, and deceive. Kat recruits two of her students: Marlon Swift (Orlando Bloom), a semi-confident aspiring actor, and Hugh (Nick Mohammed), a socially awkward IT worker with a nervous streak. The three pose as gangsters to expose low-level crime, but what begins as a fake sting over counterfeit cigarettes spirals into an escalating series of cons, deals, and close calls.

Soon, they’re dealing with mid-level criminal Fly (Paddy Considine) and icy enforcer Shosh (Sonoya Mizuno), conning rival gangs, and gaining dangerous credibility in the underworld. Shosh, in particular, hovers like a quiet threat—never raising her voice, but always commanding the room. When a bluff leads to an unexpected death, the case draws attention from both the police—led by Detective Inspector Dawes (Ben Ashenden)—and from players higher up the criminal food chain. Kat begins to suspect that Billings may not be telling her everything, and what began as an absurd side gig turns into something far riskier than she ever imagined.

The further the trio gets pulled in, the more their improvisational instincts are put to the test. With loyalties shifting and the stakes climbing as Fly’s boss, Metcalfe (Ian McShane), digs deeper towards the truth, they’re forced to rely on their performance skills to survive—not on stage, but in real life. The less said about the final act, the better, but rest assured: Deep Cover sticks the landing with a satisfying mix of chaos, tension, and earned laughs.

It’s not often that I see a film that engages with the improv world. Okay, so it blends the improv scene and London’s criminal underworld—but who am I to complain? Deep Cover was first announced in February 2024, with plans from the start for a UK Original release on Prime Video. I’ll admit: I would’ve loved the chance to catch this in theaters. With its sharp editing and standout performances, Deep Cover feels like it was made for a crowd. But in a world where AMC Theatres is now adding a half hour of ads after the listed start time, maybe it’s best to just put up with the 4–5 minutes of ads that come with watching Prime Video.

In a casting choice that recalls Superbad, Deep Cover features co-writers Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen in supporting roles. If you saw Jurassic World Dominion, you may recognize Ashenden as the barista at the Biosyn facility. And yes, in true Sean Bean fashion, Billings meets a familiar fate—though it does make you wonder how Ian Howe managed to survive all of National Treasure.

The core principles of improv—saying yes, trusting your scene partner, rolling with the unexpected—are all at play here. In an early classroom scene, a student derails a scene by contradicting their partner, denying the reality they tried to build. It’s a quick moment, but a perfect microcosm of what the film explores: how pretending can go hilariously—and dangerously—off-script. In Deep Cover, that tension becomes its greatest strength. It’s an action-comedy caper with heart, wit, and the kind of comic specificity only improvisers can bring to life.

Deep Cover succeeds by playing its absurd premise completely straight—and letting its cast run with it. Bryce Dallas Howard brings heart to Kat’s mix of self-doubt and improvisational bravado, while Orlando Bloom and Nick Mohammed round out a trio both mismatched and perfectly in sync. The script is sharp, the pacing brisk, and the tone energized by stylish direction and a quietly menacing presence in Sonoya Mizuno’s Shosh. At its core, the film is grounded in emotional truth: sometimes pretending to be someone else is the only way to figure out who you are. It’s not reinventing the genre, but it doesn’t need to. Like any good improv team, Deep Cover commits to the bit—and lands the laugh.

DIRECTOR: Tom Kingsley
SCREENWRITERS: Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow and Ben Ashenden & Alexander Owen
CAST: Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, Nick Mohammed, Paddy Considine, Sonoya Mizuno, with Ian McShane and Sean Bean, Ben Ashenden, Alexander Owen, Omid Djalili, Nneka Okoye, Freya Parker, Sophie Duker, Susannah Fielding, Katy Wix

Prime Video released Deep Cover on June 12, 2025. Grade: 4/5

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