Lift is a 2024 American heist comedy film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Daniel Kunka. The film stars Kevin Hart (who also served as a producer), Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D'Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó, Billy Magnussen, Jacob Batalon, Jean Reno, and Sam Worthington.
Lift was released on Netflix on January 12, 2024.
Lift is a 2024 American heist comedy film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Daniel Kunka. The film stars Kevin Hart (who also served as a producer), Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D'Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó, Billy Magnussen, Jacob Batalon, Jean Reno, and Sam Worthington.
Lift was released on Netflix on January 12, 2024.
DOWNLOAD
Plot
Cyrus, a renowned international thief, leads a heist crew of inside man Denton, pilot Camila, hacker Mi-Sun, safecracker Magnus and engineer Luke. They undertake two simultaneous thefts, stealing a Van Gogh painting in London whilst staging the fake kidnapping of renowned NFT artist N8 in Venice.
However, Interpol agent Abby Gladwell, a former fling of Cyrus, uncovers evidence implicating Denton, Luke and Magnus in the thefts. Rather than proceed with charges against the crew, Abby’s superior, Commander Huxley, leverages their legal predicament to force them to help capture banker and terrorist mastermind Lars Jorgenson. As part of the deal, Cyrus insists Abby join the team, to provide certain cover by Interpol.
Jorgenson is working with the hacking group Leviathan to stage a terrorist attack in Europe, allowing him to make billions in profit by stock manipulation. As Leviathan require payment in gold bullion, Jorgenson has arranged for a shipment of gold to be taken from his vault in London and flown to Leviathan’s bank in Zurich via a commercial airliner.
The crew determine they will only be able to steal the gold while the airliner is in mid-air. To do so, they procure a private jet that Camila will fly directly underneath the airliner, allowing Mi-Sun to switch the radar signals to make it seem like the plane is still on course whilst the crew divert it to a private airfield. After Magnus cracks the safe and Jorgenson's henchmen are incapacitated, the crew will extract the gold via the jet.
Their timings are complicated when Jorgenson executes a mole in his organisation and moves up the delivery date. Nevertheless, the crew are ready in time. After successfully diverting the plane, Jorgenson’s henchmen attempt a hijack, resulting in the plane crash landing. Magnus, Abby, Cyrus and Camila are captured. Magnus escapes on the ground, whilst the remaining three are taken aboard the jet with the gold, headed for Jorgenson’s estate in Tuscany.
Desperate for the gold to not reach Jorgenson, Huxley orders the plane shot down by NATO. Harry, the crew’s contact at air traffic control, works with Camila to get a message to the pilots that there are hostages on board, forcing them to stand down. Another fight between the crew and Jorgenson’s henchmen results in the jet crash landing on the grounds of Jorgenson’s villa.
Abby, Cyrus and Camila are captured at gunpoint by Jorgenson, who also executes Leviathan’s representative after they threaten him. The Carabinieri arrive, and Cyrus uses N8’s NFT technology to show them a recording of Jorgenson murdering the representative. Jorgenson is arrested, whilst Abby punches Huxley upon learning he authorised the NATO jets. She resigns from Interpol and joins Cyrus.
Weeks later, Cyrus reveals to Abby that the crew also subtly stole the gold shipment during the heist on the airliner, replacing the actual shipment with iron bars painted gold. Together, the crew recover their haul and celebrate their success whilst Cyrus and Abby rekindle their relationship.
Cast
Kevin Hart as Cyrus, a renowned thief and leader of the heist crew
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Abby, an Interpol agent
Sam Worthington as Huxley, Abby's boss at Interpol
Vincent D'Onofrio as Denton, an inside man, master of disguise and member of Cyrus's crew
Úrsula Corberó as Camila, a pilot and member of Cyrus's crew
Billy Magnussen as Magnus, a safecracker and member of Cyrus's crew
Kim Yoon-ji as Mi-Sun, a hacker and member of Cyrus's crew
Viveik Kalra as Luke, an engineer and member of Cyrus's crew
Jean Reno as Jorgenson, a banker and terrorist mastermind who is the target of the crew's heist
Jacob Batalon as N8, an NFT artist
Burn Gorman as Cormac, Jorgenson's lead henchman.
Paul Anderson as Donal, a henchman of Jorgenson.
David Proud as Harry, the crew's contact at Air Traffic Control.
Jess Liaudin as Arthur Tigue, Interpol's mole inside Jorgenson's organisation.
Production
In March 2021, Dan Kunka's spec script Lift was acquired by Netflix, with Simon Kinberg's Genre Pictures and Matt Reeves' 6th & Idaho set to produce.[2] In September, F. Gary Gray was set to direct and Kevin Hart was attached to star and produce.[3]
Principal photography took place from February to May 2022 in Italy and Northern Ireland.[4] Filming occurred in March at Belfast's Harbour Studios.[5] Scenes were shot in Trieste on the Miramare Castle grounds in late May.[6]
Release
Lift was released on Netflix on January 12, 2024.[7] It was originally scheduled to be released on August 25, 2023,[8] however, it was postponed as a result of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in the United States.[9]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 25% of 32 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 39 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[11]
References
"
Lift". Writers Guild of America West. April 18, 2023. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 18, 2021). "Netflix Lands Dan Kunka Action Spec Lift For Simon Kinberg & Matt Reeves To Produce". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 22, 2021). "Kevin Hart Teams With Director F. Gary Gray On Lift At Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
P, Maddie (June 14, 2023). "Lift: Release Date, Cast, First Look, and What to Expect". Collider. Archived from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
Daniels, Nia (March 31, 2023). "Kevin Hart films Lift in Northern Ireland for Netflix". KFTV.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.