Gerard Butler’s underrated thriller Kandahar shares much in common with Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, but which film is better? Despite being one of the better Gerard Butler action movies of recent years, Kandahar fell between the cracks during its original release in 2023.
This intense chase film cast Butler as a freelance CIA operator forced to go on the run when his cover is blown in Afghanistan. Helping him on his perilous journey is his translator ‘Mo’ Doud (Navid Negahban), with the two forming an unlikely bond as they flee from the Taliban and mercenaries.
Kandahar received mixed reviews upon release, only grossing $9 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). Still, Kandahar found new life on Netflix, with fans of Butler rediscovering this hidden gem in his filmography. It also arrived the same year as Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, a military drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim.
Gerard Butler’s Kandahar And Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant Were Both Released In 2023
Many reviewers noted the similarities between Kandahar and The Covenant back in 2023. On the surface, the two action thrillers sound almost identical. Both involve American operatives escaping from Afghanistan with help from their translators.
The two overcome their many cultural differences to form a close friendship, which becomes the emotional core of both movies. The Covenant and Kandahar also share many themes, from the blood bond that emerges between the leads to examining (and critiquing) the U.S. military’s role in the region itself.
Both Kandahar and The Covenant’s ending even feature the trapped protagonists being saved at the last second by some unexpected air support. Again, they sound virtually identical, but a closer look reveals two distinct movies.
Both The Covenant And Kandahar Were Saved By Streaming
While an official budget for Kandahar hasn’t been revealed, it clearly cost a lot more than its $9 million box office haul. The Covenant, on the other hand, cost an estimated $55 million to produce, but only brought in $22 million in the United States.
Gerard Butler found himself in a similar faceoff in 2013, when his “Die Hard in the White House” movie Olympus Has Fallen was up against Channing Tatum’s White House Down at the box office.
What should be noted about The Covenant and Guy Ritchie’s other recent films is that they didn’t have a wide release outside the U.S. with most going to Prime Video internationally. This means the “failure” of The Covenant and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is only telling part of the story, as they tend to find willing audiences on streaming.
The same is true for Kandahar’s reemergence on Netflix in 2025, with audiences who missed the Butler thriller the first time finally getting around to it. For all the issues with the streaming era, it goes to show that good movies tend to get discovered eventually.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant Is The Better Film Than Kandahar
Kandahar is an entertaining thriller with well-crafted setpieces by Angel Has Fallen’s Ric Roman Waugh. The chemistry between Butler’s Harris and Negahban’s Mo is a great emotional anchor, but it has to be said that Ritchie’s The Covenant is the more powerful experience.
Gyllenhaal and Salim deliver emotional work, and you completely buy the lengths the two go to save each other. Ritchie’s film is also a better exploration of the conflict, the personal lives of its heroes and the bond between the protagonists.
For instance, the intense determination of Gyllenhaal’s Kinley to save Ahmed is largely motivated out of guilt, just as much as honor. Both Kandahar and The Covenant have powerful endings, but the latter just hits harder.
Source: Box Office Mojo
