'80s action classic ‘Die Hard’ has been mimicked and imitated for almost four decades, but few movies have so shamelessly aped John McClane’s explosive escapade in Nakatomi Plaza as “Cleaner.”
In a nutshell, this 2025 action-thriller is basically ‘Die Hard’ in London, and it swaps out Bruce Willis for Daisy Ridley, most known for her role as Rey in the “Star Wars” saga.
The movie was released in theatres back in February and barely registered at the box office. With a $25m budget, it grossed a mere $1.3m, and while it did receive a more limited release, that's still a pretty poor global box office haul.
Fortunately, for those involved in the movie, "Cleaner" is washing away the bad taste of its weak box office total as it's finding a lot more success on streaming.
The action-thriller just landed on HBO Max and has quickly rocketed straight to the No. 1 spot on the streaming service's top 10 most-watched list. That's no mean feat, and suggests it's "Die Hard" energy does have some appeal.
If you’re looking for a jolt of excitement to kick off your week, and you don’t mind the sense of déjà vu that comes with a movie that copies a true classic, then “Cleaner” might just be worth adding to your watchlist. Need more details? Here’s everything you need to know about this No. 1 HBO Max movie.
What is ‘Cleaner’ about?
Set in the U.K. capital city of London, “Cleaner” sees a group of environmental activists attempt to expose an energy conglomerate's shady practices by crashing the company's swanky gala held in a towering high-rise building.
The initially peaceful plan is hijacked by an extremist in their group who wants to send a bloody message to the entire world.
At the same time this is going down, Joey Locke (Ridley) is starting her shift as a window cleaner. However, Joey isn't just skilled at washing windows; she's also a former soldier with a lethal set of combat skills.
When the activists begin taking hostages, including Joey’s younger brother, Michael (Matthew Tuck), she is forced to step in to save those trapped inside the skyscraper.
Also starring Clive Owen as the radical leader of the ecoactivist group, “Cleaner” is the latest effort from genre veteran Martin Campbell, most known for directing acclaimed Bond movies “GoldenEye” and “Casino Royale.” He also helmed 2005’s “The Legend of Zorro,” but let’s not talk about that one...
‘Cleaner’ is a shameless ‘Die Hard’ rip-off, but that’s okay
“Cleaner” wins very few points for originality, and it certainly lacks the dynamism of its hero and villain that made “Die Hard” such a juggernaut success. Daisy Ridley and Clive Owen are a solid pairing, but you just can’t top Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. However, that doesn’t automatically mean you should dismiss this HBO Max action-thriller.
It falls into the easy watching category. It gives you exactly what you’d expect given the setup, even if it’s totally adverse to taking any risks. Right down to the subplot about Joey’s brother, each component feels predictable, but they all fit together to create an action-thriller that is always competent.
I appreciate that’s not glowing praise, but “Cleaner” isn’t really a flick that elicits strong emotions either way. It’s a perfectly serviceable movie at its core.
That was the general consensus from critics as well. At present, “Cleaner” holds a very average 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 80 reviews in total. That sees the movie fall into the “rotten” side of the site’s scale, but it’s not a terrible score, just a very middling one.
“Daisy Ridley's credible action chops and Martin Campbell's smooth direction keep Cleaner from being a mess, but this thriller borrows one too many elements from better predecessors to have a polished identity of its own,” reads Rotten Tomatoes’ ‘Critics Consensus.’
Tomris Laffly of Variety calls it a “modest popcorn caper.” While Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times notes it’s “‘Die Hard’ just with different people.” Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck was a little more positive when assessing “Cleaner.”
“Campbell clearly knows his way around this sort of material, resulting in some tense, well-staged action sequences that make Cleaner reasonably diverting for its concise running time. But the film never achieves the heights of the classic actioners,” said Scheck.
On the flip side, a more negative write-up came from John Nugent over at Empire Magazine: Cleaner has good people behind it but this British attempt at a Die Hard ends up just being a bit of a mess. Yippee-ki-nay.” I very much appreciate the pun!
Viewers warmed to “Cleaner” a little more than critics, rating it 66% on RT’s Popcornmeter, but the two scores fall broadly into the same ballpark.
In short, this action-thriller movie is well-constructed enough to keep you entertained, and Daisy Ridley has enough action hero credit to keep things ticking along nicely, but it’s not going to live long in the memory.
Perhaps its biggest advantage is that it runs a very lean 96 minutes, so there’s not really enough time for you to get annoyed at all the ideas it pinches from better action movies.
Instead, it’s a breezy watch, with enough thrills to keep you engaged, even if you’ve seen this formula done elsewhere to a higher overall standard.
Not sold? Here’s a roundup of everything new added to HBO Max in June 2025, which has plenty of alternative picks worth considering.
Watch "Cleaner" on HBO Max now
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