There’s an old saying that women prefer poison, but Eve Macarro, the lethal heroine of Ballerina, either missed the memo or found it too dull for her penchants. Ana de Armas, in the latest John Wick universe installment, instead maims and massacres her adversaries with knives, hammers, grenades, a grenade pin, figure skates, a flamethrower, and, of course, guns — lots of guns.

Set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, Ballerina is a lean revenge thriller that wastes little time on ambiguity. From the onset, we’re treated to a brief prelude in which we learn that Macarro’s parents, members of a shadowy assassin cabal, attempted to escape their violent order and were murdered for their insubordination. Orphaned and seeking answers, Macarro eventually joins the Ruska Roma and their school of ballet, something like a Juilliard for Slavic assassins.