The $60 million gamble that paid off in the long run

The Informer, a 2019 film starring Joel Kinnaman, Ana de Armas, Rosamund Pike, Common, and Clive Owen, was a commercial disappointment upon release but is now finding new life on streaming platforms.

Based on the Swedish novel Three Seconds, this prison and conspiracy thriller is reevaluated by audiences years later .

A gritty undercover thriller that slipped through the cracks

Not every thriller is going to get a fair crack of the whip when it first comes out,and it doesn't always get the life it deserves until much later.

Sometimes, a movie arrives with a stacked cast and just slips completely through the cracks.

That's precisely what happened to this movie, a gritty undercover thriller that came and went without making much noise in theaters.

From box office failure to streaming success

The Informer was almost a total wipeout at the box office, although that's not all its own fault, because its release was also badly hurt by timing and distribution issues.

The reported budget isn't even well known - IMDb lists it at around $60 million, while other box-office trackers focus more on its final grosses - but either way, the theatrical numbers were tiny.

Reports state that the film closed at just $300,460 domestically and $3.37 million worldwide.

Reevaluated by audiences years later

Now, years later, it's getting another shot at finding the audience that missed it in that haven for forgotten movies: late night streaming!

Based on the 2009 novel Three Seconds by Roslund & Hellström, The Informer follows Pete Koslow , an ex-convct turned undercover informant for the FBI, but a drug deal goes wrong, Pete has to go back behind bars in order to keep his cover and protect his family at the same time.

Only issue? He's now got to deal with trouble from mobsters, corrupt agents and the NYPD.

A solid, not spectacular thriller

Critically, it has a better reputation though.

It has a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it seems to be the definition of"solid,not spectacular".

IMDb's user score is also a respectable 6.6/10, which seems to sum it up nicely.

It was a decent, sturdy thriller, but not exactly a lost masterpiece.