Cleveland
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Edgar Wright
Writer: Jimmy Ellis
Cast: Ben Barnes, Daveed Diggs, Sterling K. Brown, Jennifer Connelly, John Gallagher Jr., Julia Fox, Josh Hartnett, Aaron Paul, Pablo Schreiber, Manny Jacinto, Ben Schwartz, Thomas Middleditch
Plot: Cleveland, Ohio. The snow glistens on the pavement, under the illumination of the streetlamps. As we journey through the streets of Cleveland, we settle on two men in the middle of a street, but we cannot hear them. Everything is completely silent. Suddenly, a Blue Subaru comes out of nowhere, hitting one of the men. The car stops for a second before a cloaked figure emerges with a windscreen scraper, and proceeds to knock out the other man. The figure drags the other man into the trunk of the car, and drives off, the dead body still lying in the snow, staining it red.
The next day, detectives, Greg Williams (Ben Barnes) and Jared Heller (Daveed Diggs) talk to each other about Lebron James. They set out into the brisk Cleveland air, looking for clues.
In a different part of Cleveland, a man, Shaw Collins (Sterling K. Brown) sits at a desk with his wife, Mandy (Jennifer Connelly), next to him. The two of them are the heads of the Collins Crime Family. In front of them sits a mousy man, Ronald Earl Palmer or RE (John Gallagher Jr). Shaw tells him one of his men is dead, and another missing and, let’s face it probably dead as well. Shaw sends RE off to find out who is responsible, and/or to tie up any lose ends.
Back in downtown Cleveland, Greg and Jared are at the crime scene. Jared finds the tire tracks in the snow and asks to find out which tyre made those tracks. Jared discusses the dead man, Teddy. He says that he was a member of the Collins crime family, so either someone accidentally killed him and is in big trouble, or Cleveland may have a turf war on their hands.
Back at the Collins House, Shaw, and Mandy talk about Teddy, however as they talk it becomes clearer that Mandy is manipulating Shaw into thinking and saying what she wants, and it’s truly unclear who is actually in charge.
Greg and Jared find out the type of tires that made the tracks. The two of them go to interview every person in Cleveland with those tracks. These interviews lead them to Shaker Heights. Jared tells Greg that Shaker is a half hour outside of Cleveland, so he doubts the murderer came all the way out here. They interview the few people in the area with the tracks, with no results whatsoever. The two of them eventually get to a cute little house and knock on the door. A woman, Laura Bell (Julia Fox) opens the door and immediately welcomes them inside for a coffee. She says her husband is not home but will let him know they stopped by. They continue talking until the detectives say that they must go, they wish to be in contact with her husband soon. As they leave Greg says that if someone in that house, in this neighbourhood, committed any sort of crime, much less a murder, he has lost faith in the world. The two of them drive off. Not 30 seconds after they leave, a blue Subaru pulls into the driveway with a det on the hood. Out steps Laura’s husband Joe (Josh Hartnett), Laura greets him and says that the police officers were here. He is horrified to hear this. When Laura asks him what is wrong, the camera pans down through the floorboards into the basement, to reveal Merrill Flood (Aaron Paul) bound and gagged to a post.
Flashback: Joe Bell sits at a desk. He takes a deep breath before picking up his phone. “Hi, so sorry to bother you, this is Joe from…” He launches into his prepared telemarketing speech. The other line immediately hangs up, he sighs and gets set to do the whole thing again. An overhead shot of the office shows, each cubicle perfectly placed next to the other.
Later that day Joe drives home and greets Laura, the two share a nearly silent dinner, the silence only interrupted by questions from Laura, Joe only answers with one- or two-word responses. Joe wakes up the next morning and the same thing happens again and again.
One day Joe heads to work and picks up the phone. He dials the number but does not speak he just stares at the phone. The other line becomes impatient with him, until he snaps out of it, he throws his pre-written speech out the window and freestyles it. Another overhead shot of the office shows his fellow employees standing and staring at Joe. He eventually picks up steam and ends up closing the deal., the entire office stare in disbelief. Joe sits back with a cocky grin, stands up and leaves work. He smiles as he drives home, finally in control of his life. He calls Laura and tells her he wants to go out to dinner that night. As Joe arrives home, he takes Laura into the bedroom and immediately closes the door behind them.
Afterwards, Laura asks what’s gotten into Joe, he says that he finally has control of his life. At dinner the two of them have a great time. Joe and Laura jump in the car, Joe looks to Laura, “Wanna go for a joyride.” She nods. It’s innocent enough, the two are laughing and having a good time, until it begins to get out of hand. Joe smiles and hungers for the adrenaline, pushing the speed to dangerous limits. Laura tells him to slow down, but its too late. An exterior shot shows teddy and Merrill talking, we don’t know what about. Joe and Laura crash into Teddy. Everyone stops, Merrill, Laura and Joe, all frozen solid. Laura freaks out while Joe just stares at the body. Joe spots Merrill and realizes he saw the whole thing. Joe looks around the car and finds a windshield scraper. He grabs it and gets out of the car. Merrill has no clue what just happened, Joe clubs Merrill over the head with the scraper. He drags him into the car. They arrive at home, Laura has completely passed out, and Joe carries her up to bed. He then goes back to the car to get Merrill out of the trunk, but a neighbour stops him, so he has to slams the door onto Merrill’s fingers. When the neighbour leaves, Joe carries Merrill’s body to the basement, and proceeds to tie him up and gag him. Joe stands back looking at the tied up Merrill, with a small grin coming across his face. End Flashback
RE prowls the streets of downtown Cleveland, searching for any clues on Merrill’s whereabouts. He comes across the crime scene, still taped off, although only watched by one uniformed officer. RE surveys the officer, and walks up to the officer, he begins making small talk about the crime. RE lowers the guards guard and gets closer to him. He then quickly slits the guards throat. He disposes of the body and goes to the crime scene. After studying the tire tracks, the blood, and the imprint of the body on the snow, RE sets off.
Elsewhere in Shaker Heights, Joe waits in bed for Laura to wake up. She eventually does and tells a relieved Joe that she had the craziest dream last night, Joe killed a man. Joe lets out a nearly audible sigh of relief, as the camera smash cuts to Merrill in the basement. Joe manages for the whole day to keep Laura out of the basement.
Greg and Jared arrive at the crime scene, only to find it completely abandoned, with footprints around. They look around and eventually find the guards body, the blood from his throat frozen to his neck. Greg wants to instantly go after the culprit, but Jared says they need to take a second and truly figure the whole thing out. After a second the two set off.
Not even two blocks over, Shaw and Mandy sit in the only place we have seen them so far, staring out over the city, lamenting about the working class. Mandy subtly eyes Shaw.
RE still on foot reaches Shaker Heights and stands at the foot of the Bell household.
Greg and Jared walk the streets, they are unknowingly on the trail of RE, they find dead body after dead body around the streets of Cleveland. A few of these trigger flashes of the murders, mostly slit throats. All of this on his way to find Merrill. Greg and Jared theorise about these murders and the somewhat randomness of them all.
At the Bell house, Joe wakes up at 6 AM, and does something that seems routine; he goes downstairs, bringing Merrill some food, emptying his bathroom pail, locking the basement door and then shimmying out a half opened window just above the ground, the window being left open just a crack. He gets back into bed with Laura, right as she wakes up, and pretends his been there the whole time. She kisses him. The two of them have breakfast and after breakfast Joe leaves, slamming the door, accidentally as he does. The camera cuts toward the chair holding the basement door closed, and it is wobbling just a bit. After a second the chair falls completely, creating a loud thud for Laura to investigate. She swings open the basement door and walks down. She looks around at the foot of the stairs, with Merrill just out of sight, as she turns around, however, she hears a moan. She nearly jumps out of her skin as she investigates the noise, leading her to find Merrill. She takes off his gag, which leads to him immediately cursing her out, so she puts it back on him. Laura sits back and wonders what to do next, taking off Merrill’s gag once more. He tells her that her husband did this and that he’s crazy. She defends Joe saying he wouldn’t have done this without a reason, Merrill then explains he killed his partner. Laura begins talking with Merrill and oddly really connects with him. As time has passed she sees the clock, Joe will be home soon, she re-gags Merrill and runs back up the stairs closing the door behind her.
Later that night, a darkened figure walks up behind the house, shimmying down the half opened window into the basement. He turns on the single lightbulb revealing himself to be RE. He ungags Merrill and Merrill instantly breathes a sigh of relief, believing himself to be saved. RE tells him not so fast, and proceeds to take out a knife. Merrill instantly begins to protest, but RE regags him, and continues to cut off Merrill’s pinky finger. Merrill screams in agony, and RE finishes, dropping his knife just out of reach of Merrill and heads out.
Back in downtown Cleveland, Shaw receives an envelope from a private sender, and opens it up, revealing Merrill’s finger. Shaw sits at his desk, staring at the inside of the envelope, Merrill’s finger sitting inside. Mandy walks in, and instantly chastises Shaw for just sitting there. He opens the envelope fully and spills the finger onto the desk. Mandy screams and Shaw mocks her. Shaw then launches into a rant about how he should never have listened to her and have RE taken this job. Mandy gets upset because RE did what he asked. Shaw then yells that he didn’t want him to kill Merrill, but Mandy says he could have already been dead. The two settle down as Mandy leaves the room on a phone call, the finger rotting on the desk.
Back in Shaker, Laura brings down Merrill’s breakfast to find him passed out and a bloody stump where his pinky used to be. She ungags him and tries to revive him and he barely wakes up, mumbling about RE. He tells her he needs to go to a hospital and she needs to untie him, she sits and thinks about it.
Back in downtown Cleveland, Greg and Jared scour the streets looking for any clues as to who the killer is. As they are searching for clues they come across a blue Subaru and run the plates. It’s Joe’s car. They head inside the building and after a short while, Joe comes out telling them he would much rather answer questions at his house.
Back at the Bell house, Laura gets closer and closer to Merrill, about to untie him. RE’s knife glistens in the light, and a shotgun sits behind a separate post. Joe drives home escorted by Greg and Jared. They are a fee minutes away from the Bell house. Laura gives in, untying Merrill. As soon as he is untied, he grabs the knife and goes after her, however she is quick in her reactions and grabs the shotgun, shooting him square in the chest. Merrill lays on the ground dead, as blood oozes out of him. Laura stands, shaking and completely gobsmacked. A few beats later Joe, Greg and Jared walk in with Joe calling out to Laura, who he claims must not be home. The interview commences with the detectives asking a few questions to Joe, who claims that he wrecked his car against a tree. After a few more questions, Greg wants to go, feeling bad he wasted Joe’s time and Jared reluctantly leaves as well. When they pull out, Joe runs down to the basement and sees the carnage, with Laura standing above it. They both stand, shellshocked, above Merrill’s dead body. Outside the house, RE stands, lighting a cigarette and chuckling to himself, almost as if he knows what’s going on inside the house.
Two men sit in front of Shaw, one wearing an ascot (Pablo Schreiber), the other wearing a bowtie (Manny Jacinto). Shaw explains to them that their mission is to find and bring in RE, preferably alive, but “dead works too”. The one in the ascot speaks telling Shaw that they’ll make sure to bring him in, while the other remains silent. Shaw asks what’s wrong with him, and Ascot replies that Bowtie is actually a mute. The two hitmen leave as Mandy walks in, saying how he’s wasting their time, and RE is either gone, or just hiding out waiting to kill whoever Shaw sends after him. Shaw says, “I know, but let’s let them figure that out. And if they succeed? Hey, that’s an added bonus.”
Back at the Bell house, Joe and Laura sit staring at each other at the dinner table, Merrill’s body decomposing in the basement. They each discuss what to do with him, and eventually decide to toss him into Lake Erie. The two are about to head out, with Merrill in their trunk, when Greg and Jared stop them. Greg apologizes for all the interrogations and for ultimately wasting their time. Joe hastily says that it’s alright and he and Laura leave Greg and Jared behind. Jared reluctantly heads back to the precinct with Greg.
At the shore of Lake Erie, Joe and Laura stare into the inky blackness of the water below. They take the duffel bag filled with Merrill and in one heave, toss him into the depths of the lake. There’s no going back now.
At a local pub, RE sits, drinking, watching a news report about Teddy and Merrill on the TV. He finishes his drink, and slams the glass into the table. He takes one of the glass shards and throws it into the bartender’s neck. He then snaps off a leg from the stool on his right and plunges it into the man sitting on his left. The other maybe fifteen people sitting in the bar are flabbergasted, but even more so when RE takes out his pistol, but empties the ammunition from the grip. He proceeds to then grab a pool cue and repeatedly hit the other patrons with it, snapping it off against the pool table and stabbing multiple people in the chest, until it breaks off, still inside a man’s chest. He then goes hand to hand against the remaining five men, systematically taking them out one by one. When all the men are on the ground, he picks back up his pistol and his ammo, shooting everyone, even the dead men, just to be safe. RE casually pushes his stool back in and exits the bar, seventeen dead bodies behind him.
A local news report talks about the massacre as Greg and Jared arrive at the scene. Greg wants to survey the area, but for once, Jared tells him to take a second, and fully think about this. A random mass homicide, not too long after a man is killed and another goes missing. Jared tells Greg that more likely than not, the events are connected. Jared wants to go to talk to the only known crime family in the area, the Collins’ and now it’s Greg’s turn to reluctantly agree.
Meanwhile, Shaw and Mandy sit, watching the news report about the massacre. They both know it was RE, but they sit in silence and refuse to speak about it. At the Bell household, Laura and Joe sit in their living room, the door locked and the shades drawn. Laura is absolutely petrified, but Joe is oddly excited. They’re criminals now. They’ve each killed a man.
Greg and Jared arrive at the Collins headquarters, and walk in, flashing their badges to everyone. Behind closed doors, various criminals scurry around trying not to be caught by the detectives. They go up the elevator and make it to the top floor. They greet Shaw and Mandy at sit down opposite Shaw at his desk. They tell him they know the massacre was brought on by one of his men, but are aware that he obviously will never admit to it. Shaw tells him that he really wants this scoundrel brought in. Greg raises his voice, saying he knows Shaw ordered the hit, bringing out his gun under the table. Shaw fires back verbally, telling Greg and Jared to do their jobs, and that they’ve got nothing on him. Now Shaw has his gun out under the table too. The two men stare each other down, until Jared tells Greg that they need to go. As Jared and Greg drive off, Shaw opens his cell phone and calls Ascot. “Those detectives” says Shaw, “Take care of them.”
Two officers, Abbott (Thomas Middleditch) and Hardy (Ben Schwartz) roam the streets of Cleveland, occasionally slipping or stepping in gum. These are Officers Hardy and Abbott. They talk to each other about whatever movie just came out, when they spot something out the corner of their eye; RE Palmer breaking into a car. Abbott meekly tries to yell out and stop him, and Hardy says they should call the police. RE drives off, and Hardy and Abbott follow, but forget to turn their siren on.
About three blocks away, at the Collins’ headquarters, Shaw talks with Mandy about how he hasn’t heard anything from Ascot or Bowtie, and she suggests they go into the fray themselves.
Two blocks away from there, Greg and Jared are walking around when Ascot and Bowtie walk up to them. Ascot punches Greg in the face, and Bowtie knees Jared in the gut. They tell them to stop snooping around, or else things will have to get more deadly, and walk off to find RE.
RE is now on the highway, with Hardy and Abbott on his trail. RE pulls off and Hardy and Abbott almost drive off the road trying to follow him. They have no idea where he’s going.
At the Bell house, Joe and Laura discuss going to the Bahamas or Cancun or something. Laura still can barely function but Joe is living for every second of this. He helps her pack and the two are about to leave, when they open the door to find RE standing there with a gun.
Shaw and Mandy get in their car, finally heading to Shaker Heights, to finish off RE. Greg and Jared also are heading to Shaker as Jared wants to question Joe again. Bowtie and Ascot are heading to Shaker to finish the job they had. Hardy and Abbott are (slowly) tailing RE, leading them to Shaker as well.
Meanwhile, in Shaker, RE holds Laura and Joe at gunpoint in their living room. He rambles on about nonsense when Laura tries to stand up. He changes his carefree tone to something more evil, “SIT DOWN BITCH!” he roars. Laura, even more scared than normal, complies, sitting down. RE then says that in maybe about 5 minutes two officers will be walking in the door. He’s going to shoot them, he continues, and if Laura or Joe say anything, he’ll shoot them too. He leaves to go get some water, and again tells Joe and Laura that he will not hesitate to kill them both if they move at all. Joe tells a scared-shitless Laura that he won’t kill either of them, because he needs them as a bargaining chip with the police. Laura snaps back in a whisper that their only two options are to die or to go to prison. Joe says don’t worry, they’ll both be alright. RE walks back into the room, pointing his gun at the two of them, saying all they have to do now is wait. Once the officers bust in, and are killed, he’s taking them in his car up to Lake Erie, where he has a boat waiting for him. He’ll pass them back to the detectives and he’ll go scot-free. Right at that moment, the door busts open and without breaking eye contact with the Bell’s, RE shoots the two men bursting in. They each fall to the floor. Joe looks confused at the bodies, and says to RE, “Those aren’t policemen.” RE turns and sees Bowtie and Ascot on the ground, each with a bullethole in their heads. As RE turns back around, Joe is standing up and punches RE square in the face. RE drops his gun and Joe begins to wrestle with him. He yells to Laura to pick up the gun, but Laura can’t. He scuffles with RE some more until he yells again at Laura to pick up the gun. She does and shakily aims it at the two men, but right at that moment, in runs Officer Abbott. Laura, taken by surprise, accidentally shoots Abbott in the face, killing him. Hardy runs in afterwards, but Joe gets up off of RE, takes the gun from Laura and shoots Hardy on purpose. He then shoots RE in the chest, drops the gun, and tells Laura they need to go. Laura can’t get over that Joe just willingly shot two men, including a police officer, and that she just killed another man. Joe struggles to get Laura out the door when Greg and Jared burst in. They see the four dead bodies and point their guns at Joe and Laura. They’re about to make the arrest when Greg yells at Joe to turn around. Before he can, RE, who’s standing right behind him, shoots him at point blank range in the back of the head. He then shoots Greg in the shin, and Laura runs out the backdoor and gets in the car. She drives off, and RE gets in his car, driving after her, Jared brings Greg into their car and tails them both. Joe’s body lay on the ground, a smile on his face.
Shaw and Mandy finally arrive at the Bell house and see the five dead bodies, Mandy knows where RE is going. They get back in their car and begin to drive. About three miles further on the road, Laura is driving, with RE behind her and Greg and Jared behind them. She sobs at the steering wheel until she eventually reaches Lake Erie, with a boat right at the shore like RE had said. She gets out of her car and runs towards the boat, but RE, Greg and Jared arrive as well and a massive standoff occurs. RE, with blood all over, and a bullet hole in his chest points his gun at Laura and Jared has his gun pointed at RE, with Greg still in agony in the car. Jared tells Laura that if she can admit that Joe was solely responsible for the murders they can offer her immunity. RE says that’s bullshit, and they can’t offer her anything. Right then, Shaw and Mandy pull up, and Shaw gets out of the car, reprimanding RE like a disappointed mother. RE, without hesitating, shoots Shaw dead. Laura and Jared are taken aback, but even more so when Mandy gets out of the car stepping over Shaw’s body nonchalantly and reveals she’s been working with RE the entire time. She says they’re going to get in the boat, and no one will die. If any of them even think about firing, RE will kill them all so fast they’ll all be dead before any of them even hit the ground. Jared, flabbergasted, watches as Mandy and RE board the boat and sail off to Canada.
Laura, having not given up Joe, faces ten years in prison. About one year later, a black car pulls up to the police station, dropping off a duffel bag. Now-chief Greg opens the door and unzips the bag to reveal RE’s dead body.
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