Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant (or simply The Covenant) is a 2023 American action drama film co-written, produced and directed by Guy Ritchie. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim. Its plot follows John Kinley, a U.S. Army Green Beret Master Sergeant, and Ahmed, his Afghan interpreter, fighting the Taliban.

In March 2018, amidst the War in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant John Kinley and his unit are ambushed by a truck bomb attack orchestrated by the Taliban during a routine vehicle inspection at Lashkargah, which claims the life of his interpreter. In need of a replacement, he is introduced to Ahmed Abdullah, a steadfast yet disliked interpreter, who claims he pursues the job only for money. During an undercover capture mission, Kinley learns that Ahmed was previously affiliated with the Taliban through the opium trade but had defected when the organization murdered his son. Ahmed later saves Kinley’s team from being ambushed by a Taliban unit aided by a compromised Afghan National Army soldier, earning Kinley’s respect.

During another raid to check for a possible insurgent arms cache about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Bagram Air Base, Kinley’s unit is attacked by Taliban reinforcements, who kill everyone except for him and Ahmed. The duo manage to escape on foot, killing several Taliban fighters in the process. Whilst attempting to return to the airbase by navigating through the mountainous Afghan terrain, they are once again ambushed by insurgents, who manage to wound Kinley, before clubbing him with a rifle butt, incapacitating him. Ahmed manages to kill the Taliban and resolves to take Kinley back to the air base. Receiving help from some sympathetic Afghans, Ahmed evades the Taliban hunting them, carrying Kinley over the country’s treacherous mountain topography. Several days later Ahmed and Kinley are near Bagram but are attacked by Taliban fighters; Ahmed kills the fighters but is shortly thereafter apprehended by U.S. troops.

Seven weeks later, Kinley, having been repatriated to his home in Santa Clarita, California, is completely unaware of how he was saved, but understands Ahmed’s role in it. Upon learning that Ahmed and his family were forced to move underground owing to the duo’s escapade having become local folklore, Kinley attempts to procure U.S. visas for them for over a month, but in vain. Emotionally tormented and rendered near sleepless by his inability to repay his indebtedness towards Ahmed, Kinley finally resolves to save him himself, enlisting the assistance of his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Vokes, to procure the visas.