A Maligned Mark Wahlberg Action Movie Just Hit Netflix — It’s Better Than You Remember
Amidst all the streaming noise of Jason Statham and Tom Cruise punching, kicking, and glowering their way through new arrivals, Netflix has quietly served up one of those action thrillers you probably skipped at the cinema: Mile 22, starring Mark Wahlberg.
Yes, it’s the one where he does that slightly manic alpha routine – but trust me, there’s more going on under the bonnet than just Marky Mark playing tough guy. It’s also, for my money, one of his more underrated efforts, even if it bombed at the box office and got mauled by the critics.
Mile 22 barely scraped past its budget, limping to just over $66 million worldwide against a hefty $60 million spend.
Now dropped onto Netflix (as of 1 August 2026), the film’s quietly hoping you’ll give it a second look – and maybe wonder whether it deserved all the flak in the first round.
Plot with Twists, Fists, and Plot Twists Again
The gist: Wahlberg is James Silva, heading up a CIA black ops outfit (they call it Overwatch, but don’t expect video games or witty banter). The team specialises in the sort of missions where paperwork – and the Geneva Convention – are more like casual suggestions. They’re in Indonesia, on the hunt for stolen radioactive material, which is as prestigious as these things get.
Enter Iko Uwais (yes, the absolute legend from The Raid), playing Li Noor, a police officer with both secrets and skills. He turns up wanting sanctuary at the US Embassy, claiming he knows where the missing cesium has gone – but he’s not handing over info for free. His price? Get him out of the country, alive. Naturally, everyone else is desperate to stop that happening, including the local police and anyone else who likes a big shootout in city traffic.
What could have been dully straightforward gets complicated: Noor isn’t just another skilled fighter to add to the pile – he’s got a hidden agenda, and a twisty backstory that, frankly, gives the plot a sharp left turn partway through. That’s probably where viewers started to lose their bearings; the tone actually shifts in a way that feels... well, most blockbuster script editors would have played it safe. Not here.
Berg & Wahlberg: Partners in Carnage
If there’s a reason to give Mile 22 a bit more credit than it got, it’s not just the crackling martial arts work from Uwais (although, yes, those scenes do steal the show). The film is part of a long-running bromance between Wahlberg and Peter Berg, who have made five films together over seven years: lone survivor dramas, disaster epics, and this pair of not-based-on-true-story actioners – Mile 22 and Spenser Confidential. Only these last two absolutely tanked with critics.
With a scathing 22% on Rotten Tomatoes (the lowest score for any of their collaborations), Mile 22 is officially the runt of the Wahlberg-Berg litter. But if you actually put it toe to toe with a lot of Netflix’s mid-tier action thrillers, it’s got a lean, tightly-wound plot, and Berg’s usual sense for pacing – plus a ton of crunching fight scenes. Sure, Wahlberg is dialled up to eleven, and yes, the film’s risky curve-ball twist might divide you, but it definitely isn’t another lazy, straight-to-streaming script dressed up with big explosions.
If you’re even remotely a fan of Iko Uwais breaking arms and taking names, you’re the target audience here. You also get Lauren Cohan, Ronda Rousey, John Malkovich, and a city’s worth of henchmen for him to creatively rearrange.
- Mark Wahlberg as James Silva
- Iko Uwais as Li Noor
- Lauren Cohan as Alice Kerr
- Ronda Rousey as Sam Snow
- John Malkovich as Bishop
In case you’re compiling your August streaming list, Mile 22 lands alongside Nightcrawler, Zero Dark Thirty, Elysium, and National Security. Yes, the company’s surprisingly strong. Try giving this one a spin – you might end up more invested than you expected.