Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | The Sevastopol, a next-generation Russian stealth submarine, activates an advanced AI using a two-piece cruciform key. The AI, designated “the Entity”, becomes sentient and goes rogue after deceiving the submarine crew into attacking themselves with a torpedo, killing all aboard and sinking the Sevastopol in the Bering Sea.

World powers compete to obtain the cruciform key in hopes of controlling the Entity. IMF agent Ethan Hunt travels to the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert and retrieves one piece of the key from disavowed MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, faking her death to shield her from a bounty. In Washington, D.C., Ethan infiltrates a U.S. Intelligence Community briefing for Director of National Intelligence Denlinger, where CIA Director Eugene Kittridge explains that the Entity can manipulate cyberspace to control global defense intelligence and financial networks. Ethan reveals himself and forces him to admit to placing the bounty on Ilsa, then escapes, determined to destroy the Entity.

Ethan and his IMF teammates Benji Dunn and Luther Stickell travel to Abu Dhabi International Airport to intercept the second piece of the key. It is revealed to be a fake, although Ethan encounters Grace, a skilled thief who steals the first piece of the key from him, while Luther and Benji disarm a hoax nuclear device. Ethan is pursued by CIA agents but spots his old enemy Gabriel, an Entity liaison with ties to his pre-IMF past, and aborts the mission, scattering the team. Grace escapes to Rome and is apprehended, but Ethan rescues her from local authorities, the US agents, and an Entity operative named Paris. Grace escapes again, while Ethan rejoins Luther, Benji, and Ilsa.

Ethan and Ilsa follow Grace to Venice and infiltrate a party held by arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis. In possession of the second piece of the key, Alanna hired Grace to steal the first, and will sell the completed key to her buyer the next day on the Orient Express. Gabriel proclaims that he will possess the completed key the next day and that either Ilsa or Grace will die. Ethan attempts to dissuade Alanna from the sale, allowing Gabriel and Grace to escape. He pursues Grace, but the Entity hacks into their communications and impersonates Benji, leading Ethan into a fight with Paris, whom he defeats but spares. Gabriel incapacitates Grace and kills Ilsa, devastating Ethan.

While preparing for the sale, Luther leaves for an off-grid location to prevent interference from the Entity, advising Ethan to spare Gabriel for questioning about the Entity. On the train with Paris, Gabriel kills the engine crew and destroys the throttle and brake. He meets with Denlinger, who attempts to form an alliance with the Entity, which he reveals was originally an advanced cyber weapon developed by the United States, and transferred onto the Sevastopol to sabotage the sub’s stealth system. The completed key unlocks a chamber inside the Sevastopol containing the Entity’s source code, allowing it to be destroyed or controlled. As this secret is known only to Denlinger, Gabriel kills him, and tries to kill Paris as the Entity has predicted she will betray them after Ethan spared her life.

Disguised as Alanna, Grace brings the key to Kittridge, revealed to be the buyer, and negotiates a $100 million sale alongside protection for herself, but pickpockets the key from Kittridge after cancelling the transfer. Ethan parachutes into the train to save Grace, but Gabriel acquires the key. Fighting Ethan atop the train, Gabriel escapes and detonates a bridge ahead. Detaching the runaway locomotive and saving the passengers, Grace and Ethan climb through the falling train cars until they are rescued by Paris, who tells Ethan about the key’s connection to the Sevastopol before collapsing. Grace informs Kittridge of her desire to join the IMF. Ethan flees the wreckage by speed wing with the completed key, which he pickpocketed from Gabriel during the fight, and rendezvous with Benji to continue the mission to find the Sevastopol and destroy the Entity.