Terminator: Dark Fate

Terminator: Dark Fate is a 2019 American science fiction action film directed by Tim Miller. It is the sixth film in the Terminator franchise and a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), ignoring the events of the intervening sequels. The film was written by David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Billy Ray. The film stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising their roles as Sarah Connor and the Terminator respectively, and also features Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes.

The film is set 25 years after the events of Terminator 2, when a malevolent artificial intelligence known as Legion from an alternate future, sends a highly advanced Terminator, the Rev-9, back in time to 2020 with instructions to kill Dani Ramos, whose fate is to become the leader of the Human Resistance in the future. The Resistance also sends Grace, an augmented soldier, back in time to defend Dani, who is also joined by Sarah Connor and Skynet's T-800 Terminator. Principal photography took place from June to November 2018 in Hungary, Spain, and the United States.

The film was released theatrically in the United States on November 1, 2019, by Paramount Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $261 million, losing $123 million, making it one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time.

Plot

In 1998, three years after the destruction of Cyberdyne Systems, Sarah and John Connor have retreated to Livingston, Guatemala, where they are ambushed by a T-800 Terminator—one of several sent back through time by Skynet prior to its erasure—which kills John despite Sarah's efforts to protect him.

In 2020, an advanced Terminator known as the Rev-9 is sent from the future to Mexico City to assassinate Dani Ramos. At the same time, a cybernetically enhanced soldier named Grace is sent from the year 2042 to protect her. The Rev-9, disguised as Dani's father, infiltrates the auto assembly plant where Dani and her brother Diego work but is intercepted by Grace, who escapes with the siblings. Using its ability to separate into a solid endoskeleton and a shape-shifting liquid exterior, the Rev-9 pursues them, killing Diego and cornering Grace and Dani. They are rescued by Sarah Connor, who temporarily disables both components of the Rev-9 using military-grade weaponry.

Grace and Dani steal Sarah's vehicle to flee but are forced to stop when Grace suffers a metabolic crash due to her augmentations. After acquiring medicine from a pharmacy, they are confronted by Sarah, who leads them to a motel. There, Sarah explains that since John's death she has received encrypted messages pinpointing the arrivals of Terminators—each signed "For John"—allowing her to intercept and destroy them. Grace reveals that in her timeline, Skynet and John never existed. Instead, an AI called Legion, developed for cyberwarfare, triggered a nuclear apocalypse after being deemed a threat to humanity. Legion created a machine army to exterminate the survivors, who formed a resistance. In this future, Dani is a central figure in humanity's struggle against Legion.

Tracing the source of Sarah's messages to Laredo, Texas, the group evades both the Rev-9 and U.S. authorities while crossing the border. There, they encounter the same T-800 that killed John. Having completed its mission and with Skynet erased from existence, the Terminator—now self-aware and calling itself "Carl"—integrated into human society, forming a family and developing a conscience. Seeking redemption, Carl began sending Sarah the coordinates of time displacement events to give her purpose. He agrees to help them defeat the Rev-9, and Sarah reluctantly joins forces with him for Dani's sake. Anticipating the Rev-9's pursuit, Carl urges his adopted family to flee.

The group obtains a military-grade electromagnetic pulse (EMP) device with the help of Sarah's contact, Major Dean. However, the Rev-9 arrives and destroys the EMPs during a shootout, forcing the group to escape by air. During the flight, Grace reveals that Dani is the future leader of the resistance. The Rev-9 boards their aircraft and subdues Carl, forcing Grace, Sarah, and Dani to parachute out near a hydroelectric dam. The two Terminators follow them.

At the dam, the group makes a final stand. Carl and Grace manage to drag the Rev-9 into a turbine, causing a massive explosion that disables all three. The Rev-9's damaged endoskeleton incapacitates Sarah, leaving Dani to face it alone. A mortally wounded Grace urges Dani to use her power core as a weapon. Though initially overpowered, Dani is aided by Carl, who reactivates and restrains the Rev-9 long enough for Dani to destroy it with Grace's power source. Carl and the Rev-9 are destroyed in the ensuing blast.

In the aftermath, Dani and Sarah watch a young Grace playing at a park with her family. Determined to change the future, they drive off to prepare for the coming war.