8 Biggest Differences Between The Amateur & Previous Versions Of The Story

Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Amateur.

Rami Malek’s spy movie, The Amateur, follows a CIA cryptographer who decides to leave behind his desk job in order to seek violent revenge. Malek plays Charlie Heller, an introverted, intelligent code analyst whose wife, Sarah, is tragically killed in The Amateur‘s terrorist attack in London. Unable to move on from her death, Charlie takes matters into his own hands and decides to hunt down the killers, coercing the CIA to give him some training in the process.

While Charlie is easily able to outsmart the CIA, his corrupt bosses within the agency send out their own ᴀssᴀssin to ensure that Charlie does not get to the truth. In The Amateur‘s ending, Charlie learns that the CIA has ties to the man who killed Sarah, but after previous revenge, Charlie instead opts for justice. The Amateur has earned positive reviews, thanks to the emotional depth that Malek gives the role. Though some of the character’s traits and the plot are borrowed from the 1981 source material, The Amateur also made some changes to the original book and previous adaptation.

8

Charlie Does Not Attempt To Decode Shakespeare

The Book Detail Did Not Make The Cut For The 2025 Movie

In Robert Littell’s 1981 book, aside from his job at the CIA and his relationship with his fiancée (in the book they are not yet married when she is killed), one of the main things that readers learn about Charlie is that he likes to use his considerable code-breaking and analysis skills to attempt to decipher secret messages in Shakespeare’s writings. Charlie believes that Shakespeare did not write his own plays and that hidden codes in his works will point to someone else being the author. This detail also comes up briefly in the 1981 movie.

Charlie’s interest in the authorship of Shakespeare’s works could have distracted too much from the main plot of the movie.

While this detail adds something to Charlie as a character, giving him a little more depth beyond simply being out for revenge, it is not hard to understand why it didn’t make it into the 2025 movie. Charlie’s interest in the authorship of Shakespeare’s works could have distracted too much from the main plot of the movie. The Amateur is already on the slow side for a spy movie because it focuses more deeply on Charlie’s emotions than action, so adding Shakespeare to the mix was simply not necessary.

7

The CIA Conspiracy Is Bigger In 2025

There Is More Time Devoted To The CIA Director’s Search For Rogue Agents

Charlie’s work with the CIA (and against them) plays a mᴀssive role in every version of The Amateur, but the 2025 movie updates and expands the backstory of how the agency is involved in the death of Charlie’s wife. All versions include Charlie as a cryptographer who set out to avenge the death of his wife and later has the CIA turn on him, but what he finds out is changed. In The Amateur book and 1981 movie, Charlie eventually tracks down his wife’s killer, who is revealed to be a double agent, working both for the CIA and KGB.

In the 1981 version, Charlie’s final target was asked to kill an American in order to prove that he was truly loyal to the KGB, though it is unclear exactly which side he is actually on. Beyond this, the double agent is not truly embroiled in a larger scheme in the same way that Horst Schiller is in the 2025 version, though Charlie does still use other information on the agency to leverage his training. While it is still devastating for Charlie to know that his fiancée’s life was taken simply because she was there, it does not lead to wider change.

In contrast, in the 2025 film, Malek’s Charlie uncovers a mᴀssive conspiracy where the CIA has been changing the news bulletins put out to the press in order to cover up their involvement in various violent events. This allows the CIA to have secret political intervention and control across the world. Charlie hunts down and eventually discovers that Schiller is also tied to the CIA, and, in the meantime, the CIA’s new director, Samantha O’Brien, is trying to root out potential rogue agents. This allows the new film to end with the culprits being brought to justice.

6

The Technology Has Changed For The Times

Charlie Is Using The Latest Technology Available For His Kills

One change that really benefits 2025’s The Amateur is the updated technology Charlie can use in his quest for revenge. The book and original movie were both released in 1981, and the technology that Charlie has access to is in keeping with the time period. Charlie is still able to track down and eliminate his targets, but has to rely on now-outdated methods to do so. Quite simply, it would not have made sense for the new movie to have Charlie still using weapons and technology from the 1980s, so this change was entirely necessary.

The necessity of the change is especially true when considering that Charlie’s methods for killing his targets are some of the more creative kills that have appeared in any spy movie in recent years. The technology that Charlie used to create The Amateur‘s pool explosion scene was very cool and felt very modern. Likewise, his ability to use technology to hack into traffic and street cameras to superimpose his face on someone else in a different location is a fun detail that would not have made sense in the 1980s.

5

Rami Malek’s Charlie Travels To Different Locations

The Book Charlie Is Largely In Czechoslovakia

Heller (Rami Malek) wearing sunglᴀsses and a cap in The Amateur — Image via 20th Century Studios

In the 2025 movie, Charlie seems to have no problems moving around from place to place to find his targets, but in previous versions of the story, he is somewhat more stationary. In each version, Charlie starts out in the US, both in his usual job for the CIA and when attending training at “the Farm.” After leaving America, Charlie then heads to Czechoslovakia, which was still part of the Soviet Union, and is then stuck behind the Iron Curtain after the CIA cuts ties with him.

2025’s The Amateur adds a little more excitement for modern audiences by having Malek’s Charlie in various locations across Europe. After his training in the US, Charlie visits London, Paris, Istanbul, Madrid, Primorsk, and other locations. His ability to move around more in the new movie reflects the modern updates to the film and Charlie’s prowess at getting around undetected.

4

The 2025 Movie Focuses On Updated Sociopolitical Concerns

The 1981 Book Is Very Focused On The Cold War

Heller (Rami Malek) peeking into a car in The Amateur — Image via 20th Century Studios

The 1981 version of The Amateur is very much a product of its time. The book and movie both put a lot of emphasis on the Cold War and the divisions in Europe ᴀssociated with it. Originally, Sarah was murdered in West Germany by terrorists connected to the KGB as that reflected prominent concerns in America at the time. Charlie was more confined by his location, and the CIA had less ability to intervene once he was in Soviet-controlled territory. The agency’s concern about their double agent was likewise connected to what could be learned from the enemy.

Now, instead of looking outward toward a potential foreign enemy, Rami Malek’s new version of The Amateur is much more focused on the mistrust of government agencies. Yes, Charlie’s main focus is on taking down the men who killed his wife, but those men are framed as largely being without national allegiance. They are mercenaries, hired to do jobs, and it is later revealed that those jobs are sometimes provided by the CIA itself. The Amateur deals with concerns about surveillance, misinformation, and government intervention much more than past versions.