Cleaner

Cleaner

Year: 2025

Language: english

Director: Martin Campbell

Echo Score: 46

Budget: $25M

ActionDramaThriller

In present-day London, a group of radical activists take over an energy company's annual gala, seizing 300 hostages to expose the hosts' corruption. However, their cause is threatened when an extremist within the group intends to murder everyone in the building to promote his anarchic message.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Cleaner (2025) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of Cleaner (2025), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

Joey Locke and her older brother Michael grew up under the shadow of an abusive father in a tough London household, a history that pushes Joey to climb walls as a way to escape violence. Twenty years later, she is an adult and a former soldier who quit after a brutal incident with a perverted squad-mate, and she now looks after Michael, who is autistic and channels his passion into online crusades against corruption in his care homes. When a routine day at work collides with danger, their lives take a sharp turn.

One day, while cleaning windows on a tall tower at One Canada Square, Joey’s routine shifts when Michael slips away to join her. Amidst a shareholder gala for the Agnian Energy Company, a radical environmental activist group called Earth Revolution stages a violent takeover using sleeping gas, seizing the building’s management, including the owners Geoffrey Milton and Gerald Milton, along with many guests, as hostages. The group’s plan is to expose Agnian’s hypocrisy—a company that claims to champion cleaner energy while engaging in pollution and exploitation behind the scenes.

Marcus Blake, the group’s leader, is determined to reveal the truth, and the situation spirals quickly. When Geoffrey tries to parley with them, Noah kills him despite Blake’s orders, and Gerald runs off to hide. Noah then mints his own ascent to power by murdering Blake and his loyalists, taking control of the operation and rigging the hostages with explosives fitted with a dead man’s switch that is synchronized to Noah’s heartbeat. The stakes rise as the clock ticks and the building becomes a deadly trap.

Joey and Michael barely escape the initial onslaught, but Joey finds herself pinned to the building’s facade. Her SOS signal draws attention, though the terrorists briefly believe she is neutralized. As police surround the scene, Noah forces the hostages to record confessions of crimes for Agnian and coaxes Joey into framing herself as a terrorist, buying time for his scheme. Claire Hume, the leader of the police task force, doubts the appearances and allows Joey to contact her, recognizing there is more at work than a straightforward siege.

With a tenuous plan in motion, Hume reluctantly gives Joey permission to infiltrate the building and create an opening for the SWAT teams. Noah attempts to kill Joey by lowering an explosive charge toward her position, but she narrowly escapes and Hume has SWAT shoot holes into the building’s bulletproof glass, enabling Joey to slip inside with Michael’s help.

Inside, Joey and Michael fight their way through Noah’s guards, seizing their weapons and reclaiming the control room. Michael uploads a destabilizing piece of Noah’s old antihumanist YouTube clip to the internet, exposing the crusade as a lie, while transferring the forced confessions to a USB drive for good measure. After sending Michael downstairs and directing Hume to coordinate the assault, Joey lures Noah into a final confrontation.

The two clash in a brutal showdown near a gaping hole in the building’s facade. In the heat of the fight, Joey rips the bomb trigger from Noah’s wrist and attaches it to her own device, then shoves Noah out of the blast hole to his death. With the building secure and the hostages safe, the police clear the site and a short debriefing follows.

Reunited with Michael, Joey uses the USB drive’s evidence to expose Agnian’s corruption to the world, delivering a hard-hitting victory not just for them but for all who suffered at the hands of corporate manipulation. The pair retreat to the coast for a quiet, hard-earned respite, hopeful for a calmer future together.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 01:17

Ending Explained – What Happens at the End of Cleaner?

Still wondering what the ending of Cleaner (2025) really means? Here’s a spoiler-heavy breakdown of the final scene, major twists, and the deeper themes that shape the film’s conclusion.

In the climax of Cleaner, Joey manages to confront Noah and prevent him from carrying out his apocalyptic plan. Despite Noah’s insistence on destroying humanity to save the Earth, Joey, with her military training and quick thinking, fights him off and pushes him off the building, ending his threat. Before that, Joey had tricked Noah into believing she lost the hard drive he was after, preventing him from executing his final plan. Her quick action not only saves the hostages and herself but also ensures Noah’s downfall. In the chaos, the explosives he had rigged with the hostages are defused or triggered safely, and the victims are rescued. The story concludes with the world learning the truth about the corrupt energy company, thanks to the leaks posted by Michael and Joey. These leaks reveal the company’s environmental crimes and their murderous cover-up, leading to widespread awareness and outrage. It is implied that Joey and Michael’s actions—leaking the files and exposing the truth—are driven by their desire for justice and to hold powerful figures accountable. Although the film leaves some ambiguity regarding whether they actively planned the leak or simply discovered it, it is clear that their decision to publicize the evidence ultimately acts as their final stand against corruption, leading to a global awakening about environmental and corporate misconduct.

Last Updated: June 25, 2025 at 08:44

Unlock the Full Story of Cleaner

Don't stop at just watching — explore Cleaner in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Cleaner is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Cleaner Timeline

Track the full timeline of Cleaner with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Cleaner Timeline

Characters, Settings & Themes in Cleaner

Discover the characters, locations, and core themes that shape Cleaner. Get insights into symbolic elements, setting significance, and deeper narrative meaning — ideal for thematic analysis and movie breakdowns.

Characters, Settings & Themes in Cleaner

Cleaner Ending Explained

What really happened at the end of Cleaner? This detailed ending explained page breaks down final scenes, hidden clues, and alternate interpretations with expert analysis and viewer theories.

Cleaner Ending Explained

Cleaner Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Cleaner that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

Cleaner Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Cleaner

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Cleaner: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About Cleaner

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