Plot Summary
Mark Wahlberg stars in this new Netflix thriller as Mike McKenna, a Boston construction worker who is whisked away from his home town and peaceful existence by his former high school sweetheart Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry), who transports him to London where she works as a secret agent for an agency known as The Union.
Roxanne wants Mike to help her with her latest mission, which is to retrieve a laptop containing intel about some of the world’s top agents and law enforcement officials.
This intel has been stolen by somebody who wants to sell the information to an enemy of the US. As Mike is a nobody, with no agency background, Roxanne thinks he’s the perfect person to join her mission.
Mike joins Roxanne’s team but his decision to do so is likely fuelled by his his love for her, which has never gone away.
In this Ending Explained article for The Union, we ask the question: Do Mike and Roxanne resume their relationship?
How does The Union begin?
The movie begins in Italy where Roxanne is overseeing a team preparing to rescue an abducted CIA agent. The team are able to retrieve their target but just as they are preparing to flee the scene, somebody opens fire on them, resulting in the deaths of everybody, except Roxanne.
We say ‘everybody’ but that isn’t strictly true. One man presumed dead is Nick Faraday (Mike Colter), one of the team members, but later on in the movie, he turns up alive and well. At this point, we learn that he’s Roxanne’s estranged husband.
After the opening scene, Roxanne arrives in Boston to catch up with her old high school boyfriend Mike. She heads to the bar he frequents and engages in some romantic chit-chat. But just as Mike thinks his former lover might have renewed interest in him, she injects him with a tranquillizer, renders him unconscious, and transports him to London to her agency’s headquarters.
What does Roxanne want with Mike?
Roxanne wants Mike’s body but not in the way you might think. While there are hints that she might still love him, the real reason she wants him around is because she thinks he might be useful for her mission.
We learn that the abducted CIA agent at the beginning of the movie was in possession of a laptop containing highly confidential information about every agent, serviceman, and police worker who has worked for the Western Allies countries. That intel has now been stolen by the people who ambushed the mission.
Roxanne and her team need somebody with no military or intelligence background to help them track the laptop, which is to be sold at an auction to the highest bidder.
Various enemies of the USA are to be at the auction, including representatives of Iran, Russia, North Korea and China. As Mike is an ordinary American who won’t be recognised by anybody at the event, he is the perfect person to infiltrate the auction and acquire the laptop.
Who is the auctioneer?
The auctioneer is the same person who stole the intel – a woman named Juliet Quinn, who is a freelance spy. During the mission, Mike and Roxanne are able to apprehend her and take back the intel.
Shortly after, Roxanne is in for a surprise when Nick Faraday turns up. Not only is she surprised when he turns up alive and well but she’s in for another shock when he tells her it’s Tom Brennan, her boss, and not Juliet who was responsible for the attack on The Union’s agents.
This is all a lie though. As the plot progresses, we discover it was Nick who stole the intel, along with Juliet who acted as his accomplice.
Why did Nick steal the intel?
Nick was tired of his low salary at The Union so decided to steal the laptop so he could sell the intel to the highest bidder and make millions from the transaction.
At the end of the movie, he is about to escape on a boat, along with the laptop. He doesn’t get very far though as Roxanne and Mike catch up with him before he can set sail to pastures new.
During the confrontation, Nick reminds Roxanne that they could sell the intel for millions of dollars and sail the world, like they had always dreamed of. This is just another bluff, as he secretly plans to shoot her. But before he does, Roxanne shoots and kills him.
Do Mike and Roxanne resume their relationship?
The movie ends with a wedding party. Mike is present at the celebration but he’s there as best man for one of his friends and not as Roxanne’s husband.
However, Roxanne crashes the wedding and she and Mike have an intimate conversation. It’s clear from this that they still have feelings for one another. Just as they’re about to flee the room to indulge in something more intimate than their chatter, they are interrupted by Tom who tells them both he has another mission for them.
The film ends soon after. This leaves us with the question we raised above. While we don’t know for sure that they resumed their relationship, it’s obvious from the film’s conclusion that romance is in the air. As such, it’s highly likely that these former lovebirds are about to continue from where they left off all those years ago.
Read More: The Union Movie Review