Cleaner (2025) Review: Die Hard Meets Window Washing, Mostly

This Cleaner review starts with a simple pitch: Die Hard on the side of a London skyscraper. Martin Campbell, the veteran behind GoldenEye and Casino Royale, directs this 2025 British action thriller with Daisy Ridley in the lead. It is lean, loud and a little predictable, but it delivers enough vertigo to keep you watching.

Cleaner Review: The Story So Far (No Spoilers)

The Cleaner plot is easy to follow. Joey Locke is a former soldier who now scrubs windows on high-rise buildings. During an energy company's annual gala, a group of radical activists takes over the venue and holds 300 people hostage.

Joey is dangling outside the building when it happens, which makes her the only person who can see what is going on and still move freely. Her older brother is inside, so the stakes are personal as well as huge. The film uses its first act to set up the characters, the building and the activists' demands before the pressure rises.

It is a classic action setup, and the film knows it. The tagline promises stakes a thousand feet high, and the premise commits to that image.

What Works in Cleaner

The central hook is strong. A hero who works on the outside of a tower gives the film a fresh angle on a familiar formula, and the heights make even simple moments tense.

Campbell keeps things moving. At roughly 97 minutes, the film rarely lingers, and its action is staged with clear geography, so you always know where Joey is and what she is up against.

• Vertigo that pays off: Ledges, cables and glass give the set pieces a physical edge.

• Tight pacing: There is little padding between the confrontations.

• A capable lead: Joey is resourceful rather than invincible, which keeps the danger believable.

Cleaner Cast and Performances

The Cleaner cast is led by Daisy Ridley as Joey Locke. Ridley commits fully to the physical demands and brings warmth to a character who could have been a generic action hero. Several critics single her out as the reason the film rises above its script.

Clive Owen plays Marcus Blake. Some viewers wanted more of him, as his screen time is limited. Taz Skylar appears as Noah Santos, also credited as Lucas Vander, and carries much of the menace.

Flavia Watson (Zee), Ray Fearon (Kahn) and Rufus Jones (Geoffrey Milton) fill out the supporting group. Nobody is bad, but the material gives most of them little room to develop.

Where Cleaner Stumbles

The script is the weak link. Writers Matthew Orton, Simon Uttley and Paul Andrew Williams follow the Die Hard template closely, so surprises are few and the beats are easy to guess.

The film also wants to say something about energy companies, activism and climate change. That idea is respectable, but it stays on the surface, and some viewers find the messaging heavy-handed, especially early on. The villains' motives never feel as sharp as the action around them.

Tone is another issue. A few moments land awkwardly, and some of the dialogue leans on cliché. Audience reaction reflects this: the TMDB score is a middling 6.6 out of 10 from nearly 700 votes.

Is Cleaner Worth Watching?

Yes, if you want a straightforward, well-made thriller and do not need originality. Cleaner is a competent genre piece, and Ridley's performance and the high-rise setting make it more engaging than the plot alone would suggest.

It will not join the best Die Hard imitators, and it is unlikely to stay with you for long. But as a tidy 97-minute rental with some real tension, it does its job. Those who prefer sharper writing may find it forgettable. If you enjoy a mix of action and light drama, it is a reasonable night in.

The film is rated R, so it is not aimed at younger viewers. For more in the same vein, see our action movie reviews or the Seek review.

Who Will Enjoy Cleaner

• Fans of Die Hard-style siege thrillers who accept a familiar formula.

• Viewers who like Daisy Ridley and want to see her carry an action film.

• Anyone after a short, fast-moving British action movie with a vertigo-inducing setting.