Heart of Stone ending explained: Does Rachel Stone live to see another mission?

Netflix's new action-packed film Heart of Stone has found itself at the top of the streaming service's most-watched movies list following its debut on August 11. 

And with the cliffhanger ending leaving the door open for Gal Gadot's Rachel Stone to return, there are a whole lot more fans can potentially look forward to. 

The spy thriller kicks off with Rachel being forced to blow her cover to save her fellow MI6 agents during an unexpected attack in Lisbon.

During the intense scene, it was revealed her colleague Parker (played by Jamie Dornan) was not who he appears to be after he kills the rest of the team, showing himself to be a rogue agent with a mission to destroy The Charter and steal its most powerful asset being The Heart, a high-powered AI tool.

As the film progresses fans are treated to a variety of twists and turns that last right up until the very end - so for those who got carried away, Daily Express US is on hand to explain just what happened in those final scenes. 

Fans quickly learn that Parker is working with Keya Dhawan (Alia Bhatt), a young hacker and techno-genius who wants to expose those who abuse their power and silence crimes around the globe.

However, once Parker starts killing people in cold blood, she starts second-guessing her decision to work with him.

Despite Rachel following them every step of the way, Parker and Keya successfully steal The Heart from its ultra-secret location in a flying ship and head to a lab in Nesjavellir in Iceland to start using the AI system as soon as possible.

Parker's first targets were The Charter's bosses, who go by the name of The Kings — every agent in the organization is named after poker cards, Rachel Stone being Nine of Hearts.

The rouge agent goes on a killing spree, ending the lives of ex-CIA boss Nancy Morrison (King of Diamonds, played by Glenn Close) and former Chinese State Security Service head Jiang Hsu (King of Clubs).

As for Rachel's team, led by boss King of Hearts (Sophie Okonedo) and AI operator Jack of Hearts (Matthias Schweighöfer), they end up becoming cornered in their secured location outside of London, left with only one hour of oxygen.

Fortunately, Keya decided to switch sides after witnessing Parker's cold-blooded murders, so she deactivates The Heart and tells Rachel where to find them - forcing Parker and Rachel to come up face-to-face again. 

"First thing you did with all that power was kill people. The problem with men like you, Parker, is that your power is only ever based on threats and violence," Rachel exclaimed. 

"And when you brutalize everyone around you, even your own team, you’ll never have one thing I know I always will: someone to watch my back."

Rachel and Keya team up to bring the former M16 agent down, resulting in Parker's death and The Charter's team being saved with barely a moment to spare with their oxygen running almost running out - meaning Rachel completed her mission. 

As Rachel survived to endure another mission, fans could possibly expect to see a sequel in the works. 

The movie teases a possible return for Rachel as four weeks after the world threat is neutralized, she visits Keya in jail, and reveals she is back working for The Charter.

Speaking to Keya, Rachel admits to missing her team after they were wiped out in the previous mission, and wants to surround herself with people "who will change the world for good".

So she gives Keya a Joker card, offering her a spot on her new spy team - which Keya gladly accepts.

The movie then makes another time jump, showing Rachel, Keya and Jack of Hearts on a mission in the field and although not much information is revealed it appears the three of them are now an official operative team within The Charter - paving the way for a Heart of Stone sequel. 

Heart of Stone is available to stream on Netflix.