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The movie kicks off with Ethan having a dream where he's getting married to Julia but Lane is the officiant and then there's an explosion. He wakes up to a knock at the door. He is given a package with his new mission.
Apparently, the remains of "The Syndicate" have reformed into a terrorist group known as "The Apostles". They are responsible for a smallpox outbreak. It's serious stuff. Ethan is told to intercept three stolen plutonium cores before the Apostles can sell them to a baddie named John Lark. It appears John Lark and the Apostles are working together to acquire what they need for nuclear weapons.
So Ethan meets up with Benji and Luther for the mission. He arranges to buy the plutonium from some baddies. But they fail when the Apostles hijack the exchange and Ethan chooses to save Luther's life and the plutonium is taken by the Apostles.
The team capture nuclear weapons expert Nils. They keep Nils in a simulated hospital and run news reels on TV indicating that 3 nuclear attacks have already taken place. Nils agrees to give the pass-code to his phone, if the news reads his manifesto on TV. Turns out, all fake but it's too late, they already have what they need.
We meet the new CIA Director Erica Sloane, she instructs operative August Walker to shadow Ethan as he attempts to retrieve the plutonium because she doesn't trust the IMF to do the job.
They believe Lark is going to be at this party in Paris. So Ethan and Walker have to parachute in, which is harder than it sounds. Walker almost dies but not on Ethan Hunt's watch! They track a man whom they suspect to be Lark. They end up getting in a big fight but dude ends up getting shot by...Ilsa! Ilsa is back baby! She does not tell Ethan who sent her.
This is bad news because this dude is supposed to meeting with an arms dealer named the White Widow. Hunt can't finish the mask of Lark's face as Isla shot at the head, so Ethan decides to be Lark without a disguise.
Ethan impersonates Lark and meets the White Widow. He warns her that agents of the Apostles have been sent to kill her and he's able to help her escape when they show up, with a little help from Ilsa.
White Widow tells Ethan that if he wants the plutoneum, he has to help Lane escape during his transfer in an armored convoy. They say they have to kill everyone. Ethan is like I'm John Lark, I'll kill anyone anytime. Walker hears this and tells Director Sloane that he thinks it's possible Hunt really is Lark.
Ethan and Walker attack Lane's convoy but they do it in a way that avoids having to kill the police. Ethen pushes Lane's escort van into the river. He then leads the police and the White Widow's men on a chase across Paris while Benji and Luther secure Lane. He is able to jump down into a boat where Luther and Benji have Lane.
Ilsa reappears to kill Lane to show MI6 that she's loyal but the car is bullet proof. He takes Lane to White Window. But then White Widow tells him that she wants him to bring the women who killed 4 of her men, obviously talking about Ilsa.
Hunt meets Ilsa and realizes that she was in Paris to protect Lark, and in the washroom, she killed whom she thought was Lark, to protect Hunt. Ilsa wanted Lark to break Lane out, as she wanted to kill Lane. Hunt realizes that Ilsa is working for the MI6, and they want her to prove her loyalty.
Hunley shows up and confronts Ethan about being John Lark. Ethan denies it and injects him with something to knock him out to continue the mission. He suspects that Walker is the real John Lark so they hatch a plan for him to go in and confront Lane knowing that he would admit to it. Obviously, it's not really Lane, it's Benji in a mask.
I guess Hunley has come to and this is enough for him. He phones Director Sloan who instructs a CIA unit to detain everyone because she doesn't trust any of them. The CIA unit has been compromised by Walker and he orders them to attack Hunley and his IMF men instead.
Walker kills Hunley and escapes. So Ethan chases him across the city. He's jumping from building to building, doing his Tom Cruise run. He finally catches up with him and Walker tells him he has to turn himself into Lane or he's going to kill Julia, and shows a picture of him knowing where she is.
Ethan gets back with Benji, Luther, and Ilsa and Ethan explains that he believes they're going to go ahead and detonate the nuclear weapons over some water that'll infect a ton of people.
Luckily, they know where Lane is because they put a tracker in him. When they show up at this medical camp, he sees Julia. Apparently, Walker arranged her for and her husband, Doctor Eric, to be there.
Lane activates the weapons and gives the detonator to Walker, which they need to get in order to diffuse the bombs. Walker goes up in a helicopter which naturally Ethan jumps onto and climbs his way up while it's in the air.
Ethan is able to take control of the helicopter that's trailing Walker. Luther, Benji, and Ilsa are looking for the bombs and Julia finds Luther and wants to help.
Ilsa ends up being held captive by Lane in the room with the 2nd explosive. Benji shows up and tries to help and they all get in a big fight. She's about to kill Lane but notices that Benji is about to die himself, so she saves him and they tie Lane up.
While all that's happening, the helicopter chase doesn't end great. They crash and end up on the edge of a cliff. Ethan and Walker fight over to the detonator. They both fall off the cliff but they grab onto a rope. Ethan puts his rock climbing skills back to work as the helicopter comes down and kills Walker. Ethan rushes to climb up to the top just in time to press the button as the other cut the wires. Perfect timing.
Ethan is rescued and brought back to Julia and her husband where they help him come to. He apologizes to Julia for everything.
Sloane shows up and explains to Ethan that they've handed Lane over to MI6 through the White Widow, which earns Ilsa's freedom.