Role Play

For the act of adopting roles, see Role-playing. For other uses, see Roleplay (disambiguation).

Role Play
Release poster
Directed by	Thomas Vincent
Written by	Seth Owen
Produced by	Kaley Cuoco Alex Heinema Andrew Rona
Starring	Kaley Cuoco David Oyelowo Rudi Dharmalingam Connie Nielsen Bill Nighy
Cinematography	Maxime Alexandre
Edited by	Gareth C. Scales
Music by	Rael Jones
Production companies	StudioCanal Picture Company Studio Babelsberg Yes, Norman Productions
Distributed by	Amazon MGM Studios
Release date	January 12, 2024 (2024-01-12)
Running time	101 minutes
Countries	United States France Germany
Language	English

Role Play is a 2024 action comedy film directed by Thomas Vincent, written by Seth Owen, produced by Andrew Rona and Kaley Cuoco. The film stars Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Rudi Dharmalingam, Connie Nielsen, and Bill Nighy.

Role Play was released by Amazon MGM Studios via Prime Video on January 12, 2024.

Plot

The story revolves around Emma (played by Kaley Cuoco), who leads a double life. To the outside world, she is a loving wife to Dave (played by David Oyelowo) and a mother to two beautiful children. However, she also secretly works as an assassin. Her frequent “business trips” create a rift in her family life, leading to missed anniversaries and strained attempts to maintain a connection with her loved ones.

In an effort to rekindle their relationship, Emma and Dave decide to engage in a role-playing game, meeting at a hotel as strangers. This game takes a dramatic turn when Emma’s two worlds collide, causing chaos and forcing her to flee to Europe. She must then fight to secure a normal and safe life for her family.

Emma Brackett (Kaley Cuoco) is a skilled assassin who is also a loving wife and a caring mother. Emma fell in love with Dave (David Oyelowo) seven years ago, and they eventually got married and had their baby girl, Caroline (Lucia Aliu). Dave's son, Wyatt (Regan Bryan-Gudgeon), from his previous marriage, had also accepted Emma as his mother. Emma's frequent work trips made Dave wonder if their marriage had lost its spark.

Emma felt incredibly guilty after she forgot her marriage anniversary. She knew she had to make up for it, and after taking a hint from Dave's anniversary present, she decided that they should role-play. They planned to meet at the bar of a fancy hotel as two strangers. Changing appearances was not new for Emma, and she put a brunette wig on. Dave got stuck in traffic, and in the meantime, an elderly man named Bob approached Emma. He repeatedly questioned her about her job. She could sense things were about to get wild as Bob (Bill Nighy) constantly mentioned that her face looked exceptionally familiar. Dave and Emma finally got some time alone after Emma managed to bid Bob goodbye. Dave was quite drunk when they returned to their room, and while he caught up on his sleep, Emma had business to take care of. She walked up to Bob's room, and as it turned out, Bob was an independent contract killer. He was in town for business, and he did not expect to come across a familiar face.

Emma had a bounty to her name, and Bob recognized her. To be completely sure, he rechecked the picture of Emma (Anna), and it was a perfect match. The bounty was set by an association called the Sovereign, and they wanted Emma alive. Emma used to work for the Sovereign, and they were searching for her after she chose to go off-grid. Bob was ready to cut a deal with Emma as an alternative, and he demanded a 60% commission on her future assignments. He eventually agreed to come down to 40%, but it was still not within Emma's budget, as she was giving 30% commissions to her handler, who was supposed to protect her from the Sovereign.

She asked him to go ahead and make the call to Sovereign, though she was pretty confident that the poison in his system would make the task immensely difficult. Emma explained that she had poisoned Bob's drink while they were at the bar. The only reason why Emma met Bob in his room was because she wanted to make sure that he did not make a call to Sovereign.

Before dying, Bob tried to shoot Emma, and it resulted in quite a mess. Emma managed to stop Bob, but the condition of the room attracted police attention the next morning. After returning home, Dave was surprised to learn that the man they met at the bar was murdered, and they were the primary suspects. Dave and Emma were seen talking to Bob, and it was captured on CCTV. Emma knew she had to escape before it was too late. She lied about another work meeting and ended up traveling to Berlin to meet her handler, Raj (Rudi Dharmalingam). Emma had said that she was going to Boise for a meeting would be back within a day, but never shows up at the airport when Dave goes to pick her up. Dave calls her numerous times, but his phone calls go unanswered.

Soon, Dave was brought to the police station for interrogation. He tried to prove his innocence in the most genuine way. But to his surprise, he realized that the detectives were trying to suggest something else. Special Agent Gwen Carver (Connie Nielsen) joined the meeting to discuss Emma's case. Dave was surprised to learn that the woman he was married to was not named Emma Rayburn. She had stolen the identity of a deceased woman by that name, and for the last seven years, she had been living a false life. Dave was shown pictures of his wife arriving at Buenos Aires airport last week. Dave realized that Emma had lied to him about the meeting at Nebraska. Dave learned the true identity of the man he met at the hotel bar, a contract killer named Derek Worley. He was shocked to learn that Raj was not his wife's supervisor but her dealer, who operated on the dark web.

Dave discovered that Emma's real name was Anna Peller, and she was a wanted criminal. Dave returned home to find a secret suitcase filled with fake passports, wigs, and ammunition. He knew that he loved the woman he married, and he wanted to have a word with her. The police tried to win Dave on their side, but he never gave in to it. He ended up dialing every number he found in the several visiting cards she had kept hidden, and surprisingly, one connected. Emma, aka Anna, received the call, and he figured out that she was in Berlin. He wanted to discuss the matter in person, and his only option was to travel to Berlin. Meanwhile, Sovereign made it difficult for Anna to escape. They followed her wherever she went, and her handler died in a shootout. Emma was alone.

Emma (Anna) and Dave finally reunite at a bar in Berlin. Emma admitted that her real name was Anna, and she was trained to become a killer. Her father was a secret service agent, but he retired early and started his business. Sovereign was the private security company that he started with intelligence agent Gwen Carver. Carver took Anna under her wing when her father died. She was introduced to violence at a young age, and she was trained to kill. During her impressionable years, she believed every word Gwen said and was convinced that she was eradicating evil by killing the bad guys, but as she grew up, she realized it was all a lie.

Anna met Dave during a job in Boston, and for the first time, she felt seen. From that day on, all she wanted was a normal life, and she decided to only take jobs once or twice a year to pay for the protection of her family. Even though every detail she had said about herself was a lie, she wanted Dave to believe that her feelings for him were genuine. She escaped to Berlin to get Canadian passports, so her family could start their lives afresh. Emma decided that she would no longer work as a contract killer as soon as she safely escaped the threat of Sovereign. Even after finding out everything about his wife, Dave loved her and wanted to be with her. As Emma and Dave had an honest conversation, members of the Sovereign surrounded them and eventually drugged them and brought them to Gwen Carver.

Emma found out that it was not only her and Dave that Gwen kidnapped but also her children. Gwen was desperate to have Emma join Sovereign once again. Gwen believed Anna owed her life to her since she was the one who looked after her. Gwen proposed Anna join Sovereign again, and she promised to never harm her children. Naturally, the children would one day lead the same life that Anna did. Gwen had no use for Dave, and he was only a menace. She instructed Anna to kill Dave, or else she would lose her children.

Dave was presented before Anna, and as the two walked into the woods together, a sniper kept a close watch. Anna had a plan in mind, and she shot Dave. He collapsed on the ground, and a Sovereign member came in to check his status. As the woman packed Dave's body, Emma attacked her precisely when the sniper no longer had access to them. After Emma killed the threat, it is revealed that Dave was still alive. She shot him where it would cause the least damage, and he would survive. Emma eventually got the sniper as well, and she was ready to destroy Gwen.

A fight erupts between Emma and Gwen's right hand, Ji, and after quite a struggle, Emma triumphed. The student was now better than her mentor, and she attacked Gwen when she least expected it. As Gwen bled to death, Emma walked away from her to find her family. They returned to being a typical family after escaping the Sovereign camp.

Cast

• Kaley Cuoco as Emma Brackett
• David Oyelowo as Dave Brackett
• Bill Nighy as Bob Kellerman
• Connie Nielsen as Gwen Carver
• Rudi Dharmalingam as Raj
• Lucia Aliu as Caroline Brackett
• Regan Bryan-Gudgeon as Wyatt Brackett
• Simon Delaney as Toby Berman

Production

In July 2020, it was announced that StudioCanal and The Picture Company had acquired Role Play, a thriller spec script written by Seth Owen, based on an original idea by George Heller, to be produced by Alex Heineman and Andrew Rona. In July 2021, it was announced that Kaley Cuoco was in negotiations to star in the film, as well as produce alongside Heineman and Rona. In October 2021, it was reported that Thomas Vincent would direct the film, and Cuoco's roles as actor and producer were also confirmed; Cuoco would be producing though under her banner Yes, Norman Productions.

In June 2022, it was announced that David Oyelowo was cast as Cuoco's character's husband, and Billy Bob Thornton was cast as a "mysterious stranger who encounters the couple". In July 2022, it was announced that Bill Nighy had replaced Thornton, who had to leave the film due to a scheduling conflict. Connie Nielsen was also cast.

Principal photography began in July 2022 at Babelsberg Studio in Berlin, Germany.

Release

In June 2022, it was reported that Amazon Prime Video was in final negotiations to release the film in the United States and several international territories. The sale was confirmed that same month.

Role Play was released by the platform on January 12, 2024.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 27% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 38 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote: "Luckily, Role Play is handled lightly enough by Vincent's direction and Seth Owen's script that we never feel the need to take it very seriously. Which is fortunate, because otherwise we'd have to ponder why we’re rooting for an amorally ruthless hitwoman anyway".

External links

• Role Play on Amazon Prime Video (US)
• Role Play at IMDb