“Black Doves” review: Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw dazzle in Netflix's killer spy caper

The six-episode spy thriller drops December 5.

Black Doves is built on two familiar narrative tropes: The hitman with a heart that can be broken, and the spy who risks her mission for love. Even so, the spirited new Netflix thriller from Joe Barton (The Lazarus Project) is a remarkably fresh, exciting, and laugh-out-loud funny caper, driven by a sharp comedic sensibility and wildly entertaining performances from stars Ben Whishaw and Keira Knightley.

Helen Webb (Knightley) lives a posh London life with her husband, Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan), the UK’s Secretary of Defense and a rising star in the Conservative Party. When she’s not tending to their children (Taylor Sullivan and Charlotte Rice-Foley) and otherwise playing the perfect politician’s wife, Helen — not her real name — works for the Black Doves, a mercenary spy syndicate overseen by the icy Mrs. Reed (Sarah Lancashire). After funneling government secrets to the highest bidder for a decade, Helen is devastated to learn that Jason Davies (Andrew Koji), a civil servant and her clandestine lover, was assassinated by a sniper. Worried that her prize asset will get herself killed seeking revenge, Mrs. Reed recruits Sam (Whishaw), an experienced triggerman and Helen’s old friend, to protect Helen as she hurls herself into finding Jason’s killer.

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Naturally, Barton’s series (premiering Dec. 5) serves up a central mystery — a complex intersection of events involving a dead Chinese ambassador (Andy Cheung) and his missing socialite daughter (Isabella Wei) — but what drives Black Doves is the bond between Ben and Helen, two brokenhearted best friends who understand each other like no one else can. For Ben, who’s been living in exile after a botched hit years ago, returning to London puts him in painful proximity to his now-estranged soulmate, Michael (Omari Douglas) — and to Lenny (Kathryn Hunter), the boss he betrayed. And as hellbent as she is on avenging Jason’s death, Helen is fiercely devoted to her family and equally determined to keep them out of the literal line of fire.

Set against a bustling, London-at-Christmastime backdrop, Black Doves kicks off with a suspenseful action sequence — the murder of Jason and two of his associates (Hannah Khalique-Brown and Thomas Coombes) by unseen assassins — and doesn’t stop running for six brisk episodes. Barton, who serves as sole writer on the project, doesn’t try to gin up false intrigue by playing coy about basic questions; by episode 2, we know how Helen joined the Black Doves and how she and Sam met.

From their very first encounter in a darkened London parking lot, Sam and Helen recognize each other — somewhat reluctantly at first — as kindred spirits who find comfort in the controlled chaos of their chosen careers. Knightley, whose exquisitely angular face moves fluidly between angelic and menacing, clearly revels in her role as Helen — a character requiring lively comedic flair (“You know, you’re being very f---ing droll for 3 a.m.!”), action-hero swagger, and heartfelt emotion. Whishaw makes Ben believable as an efficient killer but also a gentle, sad-eyed sweetheart who could really use a hug.

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Black Doves’ plot occasionally gets muddled, and the scripts fall back on some shopworn spy dialogue. (“If the people who I think killed the ambassador are after you, then you’re dead already,” intones CIA agent Cole Atwood, played by Finn Bennett. “You just don’t know it yet.”) It barely detracts from the series’ overall appeal, however, because Helen and Sam — and their circle of trigger-happy colleagues — are so darn fun to watch. Ella Lily Hyland and Three Women’s Gabrielle Creevy are especially hilarious as Williams and Eleanor, a pair of unbothered Gen Z assassins. (Williams: “Since when have you had a rocket launcher?” Eleanor: “Since last Christmas.”)

Netflix has already renewed Black Doves for a second season, and the bloody, satisfying final hour sets up a series of new challenges for our antiheroes. My holiday wish is that the streaming suits work fast to get Knightley and Whishaw back into production so we can gorge ourselves on another Helen-and-Sam adventure come Christmas 2025. Grade: A-

Black Doves premieres Thursday, Dec. 5, on Netflix.