Dead Man Down(2013)

Plot Summary

• Victor (Colin Farrell) has infiltrated the criminal empire run by ruthless kingpin Alphonse Hoyt (Terrence Howard), with the objective of making Alphonse pay for killing his wife two years earlier to prevent a trial after his men also accidentally killed Victor's daughter. His goal is to threaten and torture Alphonse psychologically over a prolonged period of time before finally killing him. Victor is part of Alphonse's gang, whose hit-men are being eliminated one by one. With each death, Alphonse gets a small part of a photo, eventually building towards completing the faces in the photos and revealing the identity of the killer. In the hands of his hit-man, Alphonse finds a torn piece of note which says "719, Now You Know". Alphonse is tortured by the killings and in his paranoia, he is eliminating his own criminal rivals, or anybody else whom he suspects of being connected to the killing of his men.Victor watches and is watched by Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), a mysterious young woman who lives in the apartment across from his. Beatrice begins to contact Victor and show interest for him, and on her first date she reveals her true intentions: Beatrice has a video of Victor killing a man and wishes for him to kill a drunk driver who disfigured her through a car collision, otherwise she will contact the police. She says that the drive only served 3 weeks in prison for his crime, and she wants justice. Beatrice lives with her mother Valentine (Isabelle Huppert). Beatrice was a beautician before her accident, and Victor says that he works in construction. Victor visits Beatrice's home, sizes her up, and agrees to her proposition.Meanwhile, Alphonse is receiving threats against his life, secretly by Victor. During a shoot-out with Jamaicans whom he believes responsible for the threats, Victor saves his life and thus gains his trust. Lon Gordon (Armand Assante) is Alphonse's boss and he is not happy with the way things are shaping up with Alphonse, which he considers to be bad for business. Lon says that he received a message addressed to Alphonse (which reads "It's not the 7", completing the note he got earlier), along with a key taped to it. As the threats become greater in intensity, a man within Alphonse's crew and a friend of Victor's, Darcy (Dominic Cooper), investigates their source. Darcy looks at the photos and figures out the location from which they were taken and determines (by talking to the neighbors) that the Jamaicans were not threatening Alphonse at all. The key opened a mailbox which had the voice recordings of Victor's family that Alphonse killed.Unknown to any of them, Victor was secretly, tapping their mobile phones are recording their conversations. Victor has also kidnapped the brother of Albanian kingpin Ilir Brozi (James Biberi), who was involved in helping Alphonse dispose of Victor's family. Victor plans to pool the Albanians and Alphonse's men together so he can eliminate them all at once.Darcy eventually determines that the man threatening Alphonse and who kidnapped Ilir's brother may be a Hungarian named Laszlo Kerick, the man they believe they killed along with his family, and who is Victor, having changed his name to avoid suspicion from anyone in Alphonse's crew.Victor stages a deliberately failed sniper attack on Alphonse from a rooftop in continuing his plans of torture. However, he is nearly caught in the process and manages to escape thanks to Beatrice, who has been following Victor. Victor reveals his true identity to Beatrice. He says that he moved into a building with his family, and it was a building that Alphonse wanted to control. He wanted the building vacated and sent his goons to fire some shots in the air. One bullet crossed the wall and killed Victor's daughter. Victor and his wife wanted to testify, but Alphonse hired a gang of Albanians to kill the witnesses. Victor's wife died, but he survived. Victor's real name is Lazlo Kerick.Ilir's brother, who was kidnapped by Victor, has been held tied up and blindfolded in an abandoned ship (the S.S. United States, which has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996). Victor makes a video in which Ilir's brother claims that he is being held in the basement of Alphonse's warehouse, in an effort to frame Alphonse, which would lure the Albanians to the warehouse in retaliation, thereby having them all gathered in one place. He then kills Ilir's brother. Beatrice is given the memory card with the video to mail to Ilir in order to make it seem like Alphonse's crew was responsible for his brother's kidnapping.Alphonse, now knowing the threats are coming from someone within his crew, becomes suspicious but reluctant to believe that Victor is the traitor due to him previously saving his life. Victor later notifies Beatrice that he didn't kill the drunk driver so that they can spend more time together, knowing the psychological effect that the murder would have had on her.Victor sets up a trap for the Albanians and Alphonse. But Beatrice reveals through a call that she didn't mail the memory card because she didn't want to see Victor die. At that moment, Darcy, who has found Victor's true intentions while investigating his apartment (and the photos of Alphonse and his entire crew), subdues Beatrice and informs Victor she is being held captive at Alphonse's house.As Alphonse and the Albanians gather in the house, Victor crashes into the house with his truck. Victor spares Darcy's life in the ensuing gunfight and makes his way to the top floor where Beatrice is held by Alphonse and Ilir. Beatrice escapes their watch while they are distracted by Victor's successful advance, and she begins to play the video on a computer. As Ilir hears the video, he turns his gun on Alphonse who he believes has betrayed him. They both end up shooting each other dead.As Victor escapes with Beatrice, Darcy confronts them with his gun raised. When asked if he spared Darcy because he has a wife and child ("Did you not kill me because I've got a wife and a kid?"), Victor replies, "No, because they've got you" before dropping his gun. Darcy also lowers his gun and allows the two to leave. Victor and Beatrice travel home on a subway and share a kiss.

Storyline

• Victor, a rising gangland player, has infiltrated the crime empire run by ruthless kingpin Alphonse, with the single purpose of making Alphonse pay for destroying his once happy life. As he meticulously orchestrates his vengeance from his high-rise home, Victor watches and is watched by Beatrice, a mysterious young woman who lives in the apartment across from his. On the surface a fragile woman-child, Beatrice seethes with a rage of her own. When she uncovers Victor's dark secrets, she threatens to expose him unless he helps her carry out her own campaign of retribution. Each fixated on avenging the past, they devise a violent and cathartic plan that could change their worlds forever. Beatrice is kidnapped by Alphonse towards the end, Its a race against time for Victor to save her. — FilmDistrict Victor (Colin Farrell) isn't the type of man you want to come knocking at your door. A dead-eye who always hits his mark, Victor works for the man who controls New York's entire underworld. But when the ruthless crime lord gives an order that results in the deaths of Victor's right-hand man's wife and daughter, he earns himself a dangerous enemy. Meanwhile, as Victor attempts to identify the unknown figure who's threatening his boss's life, the mysterious Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) ensnares the sleuthing hit man in a dangerous web of blackmail and seduction. Later, when the bullets start to fly, the lust for vengeance threatens to consume everyone involved.. Rising fast through the ranks of pitiless gangster Alphonse Hoyt's crime syndicate, the taciturn and lethal enforcer, Victor, has a difficult mission to carry out: to ferret out the elusive killer who has set his sights on taking his boss down. With his work cut out for him, Victor strikes up a reluctant relationship with his lonely neighbour--the physically and mentally scarred beautician, Beatrice, who seems to know more than she lets on--and to make matters worse, she is willing to do anything in her power to get what she wants. Of all the reasons, a sinister aspiration binds Victor and Beatrice together; however, in this deadly tango for two, no one can emerge unscathed. How sweet is the taste of retribution? — Nick Riganas