Warning! Spoilers ahead for Red Notice.
Netflix's Red Notice bad plot twist hindered it from having the perfect ending reveal. Featuring a star-studded cast composed of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot, the film centers around the world's top art thieves and their attempt to steal Cleopatra's priceless eggs that were gifted to her by Marcus Antonius. Reynolds and Gadot play competing criminals in Red Notice's cast named The Bishop and Nolan Booth, respectively. Meanwhile, Johnson portrays FBI profiler, John Hartley.
The premise of Red Notice seemed quite straightforward. All three go after Cleopatra's three eggs for varying reasons. The Bishop tips off the location of Booth to take down her primary rival, while also framing Hartley, who's been on her tail. Sent to the same prison, the men strike a deal to work together to stop the Bishop from her plan while also clearing the FBI agent's name. However, throughout the movie's 118-minute runtime, its story goes through several turns, and it almost drowns out its heist aspect. The biggest plot twist of Red Notice takes place towards the film's end, however. Apparently, Hartley and the Bishop were in cahoots all along.
In theory, the idea makes sense, and it should've worked well in terms of the movie's story. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The plot twist was not only underwhelming, but it also hurt its overall narrative. For starters, it essentially undermines Hartley and Booth's collective story. The pair worked well; they did share several near-death experiences that it's difficult to believe that Hartley didn't form some kind of bond with Booth. When he revealed that he was working with the Bishop, there's no hint of remorse on his end that he's betraying Booth. It undermines everything they just went through, making it difficult to be invested in their relationship moving forward. In addition to that, Hartley and the Bishop's plan of duping Booth into helping locate Cleopatra's third bejeweled egg was supposed to make them look smart and impressive, but it didn't. Their scheme almost failed several times. There's even an argument that they made the whole ruse too complicated than needed. This made their win look like it was primarily because of luck and more than anything else.
Instead, it would've made so much more sense if the Bishop was working with Interpol agent Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya). The character was in Red Notice from start to finish, but it didn't feel like she really did much at all. She just popped in at certain situations to throw a curveball on whatever the three main leads were doing. Instead of having an actual role in the movie, she's utilized more as a plot device. What's worse is, despite being a skilled agent for the global police organization, Das seemed to be very easily scammed as one of Red Notice's plot holes. Had she been revealed to be working with the Bishop, it would've explained why framing Hartley was quite easily accomplished. Since the film clearly set up a sequel, Red Notice 2 could've seen more of Das' work inside Interpol while also secretly aiding the Bishop in her next heists. Hartley reclaims his old job at the FBI, on the other hand, and from there's he's once again forced to team up with Booth for a new adventure. Frankly, this sounds like a more interesting narrative compared to all of the leads just outright teaming up for another high-stakes job.
As per Netflix, Red Notice posted its biggest opening day in history. Between this and the way the film ended, it's safe to assume that a Red Notice sequel will happen sooner or later. When that time comes, hopefully, it's able to justify its creative decision to make Hartley and the Bishop heist partners and lovers.