Spoilers ahead for the ending of The Amateur, including Schiller’s fate, Alex Moore’s arrest, and Henderson’s return.
Charlie Heller does not kill Horst Schiller. He arranges for Schiller’s boat to enter Finnish waters, where authorities intercept him, helping expose Deputy Director Alex Moore’s covert operations. The ending turns Charlie’s pursuit away from personal revenge and toward accountability, while leaving his grief over Sarah unresolved. Henderson’s final appearance opens the door to another story—but the cited interviews did not confirm a sequel.
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The Amateur - Blu-ray + Digital | $19.09 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Amateur - 4K + Blu-ray + Digital | $26.59 | Buy on Amazon |
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Amateur On Plastic [Blu-ray] | $22.03 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Amateurs | $20.68 | Buy on Amazon |
What happens at the end of The Amateur?
In James Hawes’s 2025 film, Rami Malek plays CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller, whose wife Sarah is killed in a terrorist attack. Charlie reaches Horst Schiller, the leader of the group responsible for her death, but does not shoot him. Instead, Charlie uses the operation’s logistics and information to maneuver Schiller’s boat into Finnish waters, where the Finnish Navy and Interpol take him into custody. The capture also brings the illegal operations connected to CIA Deputy Director Alex Moore into the open. Plot Explained’s ending account describes the sequence; the interpretation of Charlie’s choice as a turn toward accountability is a reading of the film, not an explicitly declared single meaning.
Afterward, CIA Director O’Brien announces Moore’s arrest and says Charlie is safe and will continue serving with the agency, according to James Hawes’s interview with Entertainment Weekly, republished by AOL. The public consequences of Schiller’s capture matter: Charlie does not simply remove one enemy, but helps expose the covert system that enabled the operation.
#1 Best Overall
- In this spy thriller, Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a brilliant but deeply introverted CIA decoder working out of Langley. When his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, and his supervisors refuse to act, Heller embarks on a dangerous trek, crisscrossing the globe to take down those responsible, his intelligence being his ultimate weapon.
Why doesn’t Charlie kill Schiller?
Charlie’s decision makes the climax less a conventional revenge payoff than a test of what he will do with the skills and access he has acquired. He can kill Schiller, but instead engineers an arrest that exposes a wider conspiracy. One supported interpretation is that Charlie has shifted from trying to kill everyone involved to forcing the truth into the open. That does not make the outcome emotionally neat: Sarah’s death is not undone, and Charlie’s success does not erase his grief.
Malek offered a character-centered explanation in his comments on the film: “So rather than it being a story about vengeance or revenge, it’s more an acute examination of integrity and courage.” The studio’s official film page identifies the movie as a James Hawes-directed adaptation of Robert Littell’s novel.
Rank #2
- In this spy thriller, Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is a brilliant but deeply introverted CIA decoder working out of Langley. When his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, and his supervisors refuse to act, Heller embarks on a dangerous trek, crisscrossing the globe to take down those responsible, his intelligence being his ultimate weapon.
What happens to Henderson at the end?
Henderson appears in Charlie’s car in the closing scene, confirming that he survived. Their brief exchange—Henderson says, “See you around, Charlie”—suggests that their relationship may continue, now on more equal terms than a simple mentor-and-pupil dynamic. The scene is an opening for future contact, not proof that another film has been approved.
Hawes told Entertainment Weekly in April 2025 that the parking-lot reunion was added after the original script. The filmmakers wanted to establish that Henderson was alive and felt the connection between the characters could continue.
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Are Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne returning for a sequel?
Malek, Fishburne, and Hawes expressed interest in continuing the story in April 2025, but those comments were not a greenlight. Malek said, “But to take Charlie’s story into further iterations would be an absolute joy for me.” Fishburne said, “Of course,” and added, “if the fates allow that to happen, that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? We certainly have the desire [to work together again].” Hawes discussed possible creative directions, including a reversal in the teacher-pupil relationship and an unlikely buddy-spy pairing, while saying the studio would make the decision. These are ideas and expressions of interest, not confirmation of production.
In a later interview published June 19, 2025, Hawes said sequel conversation had been “Almost none” and there were “no real sequel talks yet.” He mentioned Southeast Asia and Namibia as possible visual settings if a follow-up were made, but said he did not yet have a story for Namibia. His remarks appeared in The Playlist. The ending leaves room for another story, and the cast and director have expressed interest, but no sequel was confirmed in these interviews.
Rank #4
- Factory sealed DVD
Film details
20th Century Studios lists The Amateur as a PG-13 film with a runtime of 2 hours and 3 minutes, directed by James Hawes and based on Robert Littell’s novel. The studio lists its theatrical release date as April 11, 2025. Disney UK announced a Disney+ streaming start date of July 17, 2025, for the UK; that dated announcement does not establish current availability in other territories. Disney UK’s announcement is territory- and date-specific.
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