F9: The Fast Saga (2021)

F9: The Fast Saga follows Dominic Toretto and his crew as they race to stop Project Aries, a device that can hack weapons systems, while Dom confronts his estranged brother Jakob Toretto. Dom is living quietly with Letty and his young son, away from the spy work of the earlier films. His crew arrives with news that Cipher's plane has been attacked and that Aries is in play. Dom learns that Jakob is involved, a man he has not forgiven since their father died in a racing crash. Flashbacks show that crash and the bitter split between the brothers. The team sets out to stop the device before it falls into the wrong hands.

In F9, Dom and his crew stop Project Aries, a weapons hacking device, while Dom finally reconciles with his brother Jakob after a feud that began with their father Jack's death in a 1989 race track crash. Dom comes to suspect Jakob had a hand in that crash, and he later forces Jakob out of Los Angeles after a race between them.

In the present, Dom is retired with Letty and his son when Roman, Tej and Ramsey tell him that Cipher's plane has been hit and that Cipher has been taken. Dom discovers that Jakob is working with the people behind it, and the crew finds half of Project Aries. Jakob steals it.

The team learns that Han, believed dead, is tied to the project. Han explains that Mr. Nobody had him protect Elle, whose DNA activates Aries, and he reveals that Deckard Shaw helped fake his death. Jakob and his wealthy backer Otto kidnap Elle and take the second half of the device.

Otto launches a satellite to carry out the weapons hack, with the upload passing through an armored truck in Tbilisi. Otto turns on Jakob and joins forces with Cipher, but Dom and Mia rescue Jakob. Tej and Roman use a rocket powered car to wreck the satellite and stop the upload, and Cipher's drone strike ends up killing Otto.

Dom hands Jakob his car keys so he can get away from custody, finally forgiving him. The film ends with a family barbecue at Dom's home that is joined by Brian.

F9 premiered in South Korea on May 19, 2021. Screen Daily does not name a venue. China followed on May 21, 2021, about five weeks before the US release on June 25, 2021.

Australia opened on June 17, 2021, and the UK on June 24, 2021, after Universal moved the British date forward two weeks from July 9.

At the end of F9, Dom hands Jakob his car keys so he can escape custody, and the two brothers finally reconcile. Otto is dead, Tej and Roman return safely from space, and the weapons hack never lands.

The car keys are the film's real resolution of the 1989 crash and the brothers' split: Dom could have handed Jakob over, but gives him a way out instead. The setup is planted in the flashbacks. They show Jack's death on a race track, and they show Dom forcing Jakob out of Los Angeles after a race between them. The first exile was something Dom imposed, and the keys reverse it. The satellite plan is the louder set piece, yet the keys carry the story.

The satellite set piece breaks down step by step. Otto launches a satellite to run the weapons hack, and the upload passes through an armored truck in Tbilisi, so the plan has two choke points: one on the ground, one in orbit. Tej and Roman take the orbital one with a rocket powered car, wrecking the satellite and stopping the upload. The villains' side then collapses on its own terms. Otto had already turned on Jakob and joined forces with Cipher, and Cipher's drone strike ends up killing Otto.

Against the rest of the series, the ending pulls the stakes back to family scale. The opening setup has Dom living quietly with Letty and his son, away from the spy work of the past films, and the last scene is a barbecue at his home with Brian arriving to join the family. Justin Lin, back for his fifth instalment after skipping Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious per Screen Daily, closes on a household rather than a global threat. That is a different shape from the previous chapter, the spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. For Brian's place in the family, see Brian O'Conner.

Han's thread is settled earlier, which is why the ending does not need to revisit it. His return from apparent death was shown in the first trailer, and TheWrap tied the film's promise of justice to the #JusticeForHan fan campaign. Inside the story, Han explains that Mr. Nobody had him protect Elle, whose DNA activates Aries, and that Deckard Shaw helped fake his death. Once that is on the table, the last act can spend its time on the brothers.

The closing barbecue sets up the team's continued story. For where that story goes next, see Fast X and Fast Forever.

No confirmed shooting locations for F9 have been published in the trade reporting on the film. The story itself moves through Los Angeles, Tbilisi and space, but those are settings in the plot, not confirmed shooting sites.

F9 carries a few facts beyond the plot, from its budget to its China opening and the Han campaign.

• The production budget was reported as $200 million by The Numbers.
• Universal moved the UK release forward two weeks, from July 9 to June 24, 2021, so it sat one day ahead of the US date.
• F9 took $59.1 million on its opening day in China, described by Screen Daily as the biggest Hollywood opening day of the pandemic.
• Han's return from apparent death was shown in the first trailer.
• TheWrap tied the film's promise of justice to the #JusticeForHan fan campaign.
• Justin Lin returned to direct after skipping the seventh and eighth films, making this his fifth installment of the franchise.