The Union is a 2024 American spy-action comedy directed by Julian Farino and is available to watch on Netflix.
Cast And Characters
- Mark Wahlberg as Mike McKenna – Mike is a construction worker who is tricked by his childhood sweetheart into joining a mission for the Union.
- Halle Berry as Roxanne Hall – Roxanne is a member of the Union who tricked Mike.
- J.K. Simmons as Tom Brennan – Brennon is the leader of the Union and Roxanne’s boss.
- Mike Colter as Nick Faraday– Nick is Roxanne’s ex-husband and also used to be a member of the Union.
- Jessica De Gouw as Juliet Quinn – Quinn is the auctioneer.
- Alice Lee as Athena Kim – Athena is a member of the Union and their doctor.
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Frank Preiffer – Frank is a member of the Union and a physical specialist.
- Jackie Earle Haley as Foreman – Foreman is also a member of the Union and also works as their computer expert.
Plot Summary
The story revolves around Mike, a down-to-earth construction worker who is tricked by one of his childhood sweethearts into joining a high-stake U.S. Intelligence Mission to track down the intel containing exclusive files about every government official who has served in a western allied country. And if all that information gets into the wrong hands, it can create havoc.
How Was Mike Kidnapped?
Mike works as a construction worker and lives a simple life with his mother in a small town in Jersey. He always has a usual routine and the same set of friends. Everything is turned upside down when Roxanne, his childhood sweetheart, shows up at a bar he regularly visits after she vanished for years. She further takes him to their regular place where they always used to meet up during childhood. But Mike had no idea what Nicole was about to do. With the pretext of hugging Mike, she tranquilised him and kidnapped him to London.
Why was Mike brought to London?
Mike is taken on a drive with Roxanne and her boss, Brennan, where they tell him what the Union is and that they are like the FBI, but they do all the work and do not wear coats with their names in big yellow letters. Brennan tells Mike what happened two nights ago in Trieste, Italy, where the Union’s mission to intercept a CIA turncoat mission failed and how Mike can help them out. He is appointed by Roxanne to help them get the intel from Juliet Quinn, the auctioneer, who is selling the intel on the black market in London on behalf of a mystery seller in two weeks. But Mike has to go through a series of tests before he can join the Union.
What Was Mike’s First Mission?
Mike was trained by the Union’s best members for two weeks before D-Day. His mission was to get the specially encrypted device provided by the auctioneer for five million dollars, to be able to take part in the auction and the pick-up location is set at Seven Dials Monument. On the day of the mission, things go out of hand because Mike is asked by a random suspicious guy to turn off his earpiece and follow him. That’s when Roxanne notices that a third team is also keeping an eye on Mike. Everyone started to follow Mike. That suspicious man takes Mike to a small café where he receives a phone call from an auctioneer, who further asks him to go to the bathroom where he sees a big man, Ricky, and hands him the money. After the transaction, the auctioneer on the phone tells him that the mobile phone is the device that can be used to attend the auction. But by surprise, Mike is attacked by several men trying to get the device. After a huge gunfight on the road between the members of the Union and the third team, Mike was able to bring the phone back to the Union, but it was in a broken condition and could not be used.
How Did The Union Steal The Device From The Koreans?
As the device brought by Mike is not in the condition that it can be used, the Union decided to steal another device from the North Koreans who are also a part of the auction. To execute the plan, everyone goes to the mansion where the Koreans are staying and starts killing them one by one. But they cannot find the device. Mike and Roxanne follow a guy running away, kill him and see the device in his pocket. But to everyone’s surprise, Athena, who was waiting in the car outside, did not respond to their calls and when they rushed back to the car Athena was found dead. Roxanne sees a picture of BT Tower in Athena’s pocket with a note “Welcome to London” and guesses BT Tower is in danger and within 2 seconds the tower is blown away. While returning, one of the members receives a call from Brennon, who asks them to scatter and wait until his call.
How Did The Day of The Auction Go?
Roxanne receives a call from Brennon the next day. Roxanne and Mike are given the mission to find Quinn while Foreman will find his location during the ongoing auction. The opening price of the intel in the auction is 100 million dollars. Mike and Roxanne drive towards Quinn while Foreman starts narrowing down her location. Foreman tracks down Quinn, who is in Nicholls Avenue. When asked about the intel, Quinn takes the duo to Holland Park, where the intel is kept in a lockbox. Roxanne takes the intel from Quinn. But a surprise visitor is waiting at the door, Nick, Roxanne’s ex-husband and partner. Nick lies that Brennan is the leak in The Union and that he was undercover to find the leak. Nick manipulates Roxanne to trust him. Nick suggests meeting the CIA near the Albert Bridge at dawn and handing the intel over to them. The duo leaves with the intel, but Nick does not show up. Roxanne gets a call from Nick telling her the real plan. Quinn switched the bag last night, and he is off to sell it to Iranians. He has set both her and Brennon up. He is the real leak in the Union. He was the one behind killing Athena and the bombing of BT Tower. The CIA has already reached the bridge because they think Roxanne and her team are the ones who want to sell the intel. Roxanne asked Mike to follow her. She threw down the fake suitcase and jumped into the river. Roxanne is not stupid or can be easily manipulated. She has already put a tracker on Nick, and they are after him, who is on his way to Istria.
How Did The Duo Get Hold Of Nick?
The duo, Mike and Roxanne, are on the run from the CIA, and they need to go to Istria as soon as possible to reach Nick. Mike takes the help of one of his friends, Bobby, who handles all the cargo ships that leave Newark, and both of them escape the country in a container. Right after landing, they track down Nick and Quinn together. Roxanne caught Nick red-handed dealing with the Iranians. She throws the suitcase towards Mike, who leaves on a bike. Quinn dumps Nick and leaves with her bodyguards. The game of chasing and shooting begins with Roxanne chasing Nick and the Iranians chasing Mike. In the end, near the sea, Roxanne shoots Nick and ends the chase with the intel in her hand.
The Union Ending Explained
The chasing ends. Mike, along with Roxanne, visits his friend’s wedding as his best man and even gives a speech. While they are having fun and making jokes about Ms. Hoffman, Mike’s ex-partner, the wedding is crashed by Brennon, who offers a job to Mike in the Union and asks both of them to join him in Marrakesh in three days.
