Movies - Ballerina – Ana de Armas Steps into the Shadows in a Gritty, Grieving Ballet of Vengeance

By Mulder, 20 may 2025

When Lionsgate dropped the official trailer for Ballerina, it wasn’t just another high-octane preview in a long line of action teasers—it felt like a long-awaited reveal of a phantom limb from the John Wick universe, one that’s been quietly waiting in the wings, lacing up her slippers in silence. For fans who’ve religiously followed Wick’s bloody, balletic descent into vengeance, this spin-off directed by Len Wiseman is more than a stylish detour—it’s a full-fledged extension of the mythos, with Ana de Armas at its center in a performance that promises to be fierce, tragic, and mythic all at once. Positioned between Parabellum and Chapter 4, Ballerina finally gives us Eve Macarro’s story—a ballerina-assassin trained under the iron gaze of the Ruska Roma, now driven by a grief that tastes like gunpowder and blood.

There’s something poetic, even meta, about the fact that this film was born from a single spark of curiosity—screenwriter Shay Hatten’s fascination with the trailer of John Wick: Chapter 2. That casual click snowballed into a spec script, which, by the end of 2017, had made its way onto the Black List of the industry’s most promising unproduced screenplays. And that idea—of a ballerina as deadly as any hitman in John Wick’s orbit—didn’t just stay in the shadows. It got canonized into Parabellum, with Unity Phelan’s fleeting yet evocative cameo. That silent, unsettling ballet performance wasn't just aesthetic—it hinted at a story as operatic and dark as Wick’s own. Now, with de Armas stepping into the spotlight, that promise gets its full-length stage.

Len Wiseman’s direction, known for his slick, kinetic style in Underworld and Live Free or Die Hard, collides with Chad Stahelski’s close-quarter combat philosophy in a cocktail that’s bound to be explosive. Interestingly, Stahelski—ever the godfather of Wick’s visual language—oversaw extensive reshoots after principal photography wrapped in Prague, stepping in to fine-tune and realign the action beats, reportedly taking the reins for two to three months while Wiseman was absent from set. This kind of back-end sculpting has often spelled disaster in big-budget films, but here, given Stahelski’s trusted hand and deep involvement in the franchise, it feels more like a blessing than a red flag. In fact, the added scenes include sequences with Norman Reedus, who had to reroute from Japan to Budapest just to shoot his portions—an anecdote that underlines the commitment and global scope this film now represents.

Casting Ana de Armas was a masterstroke. After earning her stripes in No Time to Die with a scene-stealing blitz of elegance and lethality, she became the obvious choice for a character like Eve—someone who must balance poise with pain, beauty with brute force. And if early trailer reactions are anything to go by, she pulls it off with a rare emotional intensity that doesn’t just mimic Wick’s blank stoicism, but internalizes it in a more intimate, mournful way. Eve Macarro isn’t a carbon copy of John Wick. She’s not even trying to be. Where Wick reacts to the death of a dog and wife as symbols of love lost, Eve is fueled by a much murkier sorrow: the murder of her father, whose death is wrapped in layers of organizational betrayal and Ruska Roma discipline.

The cast alone reads like a fever dream for action buffs and genre junkies. Anjelica Huston returns as the stern Director, Ian McShane reprises his silky gravitas as Winston, and the late, great Lance Reddick makes his final appearance as Charon, giving the film a bittersweet aura. Keanu Reeves shows up too, though likely in a cameo, lending credibility and legacy more than plot propulsion. The additions of Gabriel Byrne, Norman Reedus, and Catalina Sandino Moreno keep the air of mystery thick—especially with Reedus playing an undisclosed role that fans are already theorizing could rival the screen presence of Wick himself.

Behind the camera, the journey has been just as layered. The switch from Marco Beltrami and Anna Drubich to franchise mainstays Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard signaled a return to the musical DNA that has underscored John Wick’s heartbeat since the beginning. The film’s lead single, Hand That Feeds by Halsey and Amy Lee, dropped in May 2025 and serves as a sonic mission statement: haunting, aggressive, and unapologetically emotional. It’s a track that suggests Ballerina won’t just be a visual ballet, but an operatic auditory experience as well—one that will pulse with heartbreak as much as it does with gunfire.

What’s most fascinating, though, is how Ballerina comes across not as a simple spin-off but as a recalibration of the John Wick universe. It opens up new tonal territories—more melancholic, more introspective—without sacrificing the stylized brutality fans expect. This isn’t just about world-building for the sake of IP expansion. There’s intent here, a rhythm that feels like a tribute to Wick while allowing a wholly different kind of character to take the floor. The delays—moving the release date from June 2024 to June 2025—might have frustrated some, but they’ve only intensified anticipation. With a sequel already being quietly planned by Lionsgate and producer Erica Lee, it’s clear that Eve Macarro is more than a one-off avenger—she’s the future face of this bloody ballet.

Ballerina premieres June 4 in France and June 6, 2025 in United States all signs point to a new kind of legend being born—not with a bang, but with the poised precision of a pirouette followed by a headshot. In a universe where grief is power and revenge is poetry, Eve Macarro may just rewrite the rules of the underworld.

Synopsis
Set during John Wick: Parabellum, Ballerina follows the relentless revenge of Eve Macarro, the new assassin of the Ruska Roma organization.

Ballerina
Directed by Len Wiseman
Written by Shay Hatten
Based on Characters by Derek Kolstad
Produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski
Starring Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves
Cinematography : Romain Lacourbas
Edited by Jason Ballantine
Music by Tyler Bates, Joel J. Richard
Production companies : Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Films, 87North Productions
Distributed by Lionsgate
Release date : June 4, 2025 (France), June 6, 2025 (United States)
Running time : 125 minutes