The Amateur is an intriguing spy thriller movie, but it doesn’t necessarily tie up all of its loose ends. The movie is based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littel and has Rami Malek play Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer who goes rogue after his wife is killed in a terrorist attack.

In addition to Malek, the cast of the movie includes Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany, and Jon Bernthal. Upon its release on April 11, 2025, reviews for The Amateur were okay, with Screen Rant’s own Tatiana Hullender giving it a 7 out of 10. However, many fans and critics expressed that they were quite confused by the end of The Amateur.

Several scenes in the thriller prove that The Amateur is an innovative spy movie, but other moments have raised eyebrows. This has led to fans and critics questioning whether important parts of the story were changed during the editing process, making the film much more confusing than it should be. But fear not, here are answers to the six biggest questions from The Amateur:

6

Who Killed Davies?

After Charlie goes rogue and starts to hunt down his wife’s killers, he barely has any allies in The Amateur. However, after he kills his first target in Paris and has a close call with Henderson in Marseille, he decides to reach out to one of his contacts who he believes is in Istanbul. There, he meets Davies, a woman he has been chatting with for years.

Davies, who also goes by her code name, Inquiline, is the widow of an ex-KGB officer who was murdered years before the events of the movie. She helps Charlie kill another one of his targets in Madrid. Tragically, Davies is sH๏τ and killed about halfway through the film.

This is because CIA supervisor Caleb Horowitz and his team figure out her location and send the KGB after her, since they have seemingly been trying to track her down for years. So, a member of this Russian strike team technically kills Davies, but Horowitz also has her blood on his hands.

5

Why Did Jackson Let Charlie Continue His Mission?

By the end of The Amateur, Charlie makes it to a Russian port and is closer than ever to reaching Schiller, the criminal who pulled the trigger to kill his wife. However, while he is still scouting the port, he has a run-in with Jackson O’Brien, a CIA operative who is played by Jon Bernthal.

Despite being sent by the CIA to stop Charlie, Jackson lets him continue his revenge mission. Presumably, after seeing what Charlie has done, Jackson decides to disobey orders and not get in his way. Additionally, it’s possible that Jackson allows Charlie to get revenge to pay him back for previously saving his life.

It is established that Charlie and Jackson have a professional relationship, so the allegiance does make some sense. Yet, their dynamic in The Amateur leaves something to be desired, and fans and critics have questioned what the point of including Bernthal in the movie was. His minor role suggests that the film was toyed with a little too much, possibly explaining why his decisions can be confusing.

4

How Did Henderson Survive?

While Charlie is on his revenge mission throughout Europe in The Amateur, there is a power struggle within the CIA. Alex Moore, a corrupt CIA Director and Alex’s boss, sends Henderson after him. Meanwhile, CIA Director Samantha O’Brien sends her own man to Europe to track down Charlie.

Henderson and O’Brien’s agent encounter each other in Madrid, right after Charlie kills his second target. While they are both chasing Charlie, these two agents get into a fight with each other. Henderson manages to kill the other agent, but he also gets sH๏τ in the stomach in the process. Before he leaves, Charlie stares at Henderson as he slowly bleeds out in a H๏τel laundry room.

However, the ending of The Amateur revealed that Henderson survived. The film does not explicitly explain how Henderson survived his gunsH๏τ wound, which has confused many viewers. This makes his return at the end of the film feel very sudden and random.

Obviously, Henderson’s gunsH๏τ wound wasn’t ᴅᴇᴀᴅly. He was able to summon the strength to make it out of the H๏τel and seek help, or at least call for help from within the H๏τel. Henderson is a highly trained CIA agent, so it shouldn’t necessarily be surprising that he was able to survive this situation.

After all, there’s an unspoken rule that nobody dies in movies unless you see the body or their last breath. The movie held back from confirming Henderson’s death prior, allowing Fishburne’s character to stay alive just in case The Amateur 2 happens.

3

Why Is Henderson Friendly With Charlie At The End?

In addition to the surprise of seeing Henderson alive, how friendly he is with Charlie in the final scene is unexpected. Some viewers might expect Henderson to have a vendetta against Charlie, especially because he left him for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in Madrid. Instead, Henderson is likely very proud of Charlie for catching Schiller and exposing corruption in the CIA.

Charlie hacks into Schiller’s ship and changes its course so it heads towards Finnish waters. By doing this, he ensures that his wife’s killer is finally arrested for his criminal behavior. This also eventually exposes corrupt CIA officials like Moore and Horowitz, who sent Henderson after Charlie in the movie.

Even though he followed Moore’s orders, Henderson didn’t know about all the corruption and should not actually be considered one of the movie’s villains. Furthermore, despite being pitted against each other, Charlie and Henderson formed a strong bond in The Amateur. There is no reason for Henderson to be anything but friendly to Charlie then.

2

Why Was Charlie Still Able To Work For The CIA At The End?

After Charlie orchestrates Schiller’s arrest, many viewers have complained that the conclusion of the movie feels very rushed. In just a few minutes, Moore and Horowitz are arrested, and it is established that Charlie, who is the secret whistleblower, still works for the CIA.

After going rogue and killing three criminals, many viewers think it’s ridiculous and unrealistic that Charlie still works for the CIA at the end of the movie. Obviously, he had clear reasons for all of his actions, but there should be some punishment for his reckless behavior if The Amateur was trying to be a realistic movie.

To explain this potential plot hole, it needs to be stressed that The Amateur is a fictional story, and is not based on any real-life events. In the spy genre, it is very common for agents to go rogue and still end up returning to government agencies like the CIA or FBI. While this could have potentially been explained better, it’s not a surprise that Charlie still works for the CIA.

1

What Was Sarah’s Gift For Charlie?

The movie leaves a mystery throughout regarding Charlie’s wife, Sarah. Once he receives Sarah’s belongings after her death, it is revealed that she got him another gift while in London. Charlie opens the card, which reads, “A puzzle for my puzzle,” and sees that she got him a decoder.

Throughout the movie, while on his revenge tour in Europe, Charlie consistently tries to decode it. Finally, towards the end of the film, he cracks the puzzle and finds a message which reads, “So you don’t get lost in the clouds.“ This message connects to the final scene in the movie, which sees Charlie finally fly the plane that she got him.

Charlie flying into the clouds at the end of The Amateur connects him to Sarah, even after her death. Flying the plane shows how much more confident he has become. Sarah’s gift to Charlie provides further insight into Malek’s character and is a really important aspect of The Amateur.