Genre: Drama/Crime
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: James Morgan
Cast: Kyle Chandler, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tim Roth, Ewan McGregor, Sarah Gadon, Sarah Rafferty, James Spader, Luis Guzman, John C. Reilly, Peyton Roi List
Plot: Karl Walker (Kyle Chandler) wakes up early in the morning. He slept on his kitchen’s floor with an empty pill bottle knocked down next to him. He scrapes the bottom of the bottle looking for another pill as his head hurts but he doesn’t find any. He gets up and pours himself a glass of water, looking around his kitchen. He heads over to his room and puts on boxers while watching his wife, Sarah (Sarah Gadon), sleeping face down. He sits down next to her and caresses her hair, until Walker remembers he’s supposed to work today. He sighs and dresses up for the day, kissing his wife on the head, before leaving his house.
Walker gets in his car and he turns on his police radio. He drives all the way to the police station where he curses when he sees someone parked in his reserved spot. He gets inside and young detective Jasmine Malone (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) stares at him, she’s his new desk colleague. Karl wastes no time and he heads straight for his sergeant’s office. Sergeant Jake Jeffords (Ewan McGregor) is surprised to see Karl so soon after what happened and he asks him if he’s ready to come back yet. Walker brushes it off and he says he’s back. Jake says Karl stinks like hell and Karl remembers he didn’t shower, but Jake says he stinks of alcohol. Anyway, he sends him to see the psychologist to pass his test so can effectively come back. Walker shrugs it off, saying it’s just a formality and Jeffords says he’ll see about that.
Walker gets down a corridor as he heads to Dr. Miller’s office. He bumps into his old colleague and partner Tim Gardner (Tim Roth) and they tell themselves how much they miss each other and how Walker is now stable enough to get back in the force. Walker says that of course he’s feeling good enough to come back on the force and he’s sick and tired of people asking him that. Tim says he must go, but it was nice chatting with him. Dr. Miller (Sarah Refferty) asks Walker if everything is alright and he once again says that everything if fine, and Miller gives him a weird look.
While Walker is with Miller, Jeffords reaches over to Det. Malone to warn her about Walker. If he’s cleared to return, and that’s a big if, he has to warn her that he’s… difficult to work with. Malone says it’s not a problem for her, she had to overcome adversity all her life and he’s not going to change that. She’s determined to make things work with him. Jeffords says she can’t say he didn’t warn her, before adding that she shouldn’t mention his old partner, because of what happened. Malone understands, she’ll keep her mouth shut.
Dr. Miller asks Walker if he thinks he’s ready to come back and he says he is. She says he went through something really traumatic and it’s not easy to come back from such a thing, but if he believes he’s ready, she’s ready to believe him. He says he turned the page completely; he doesn’t even think about it anymore. Miller asks Walker if he’s still taking medication for his problems, and Walker denies it, not even acknowledging his mental problems. She gives him a series of tests that Walker passes and, in the end, she declares him able to come back to work, but he should brush his teeth, his breath stinks like hell. Walker, not the type of guy to usually accept advice, flips her off and smiles, before leaving the office with his stamped document, clearing him. He runs into Jeffords’ office and he slams it on his desk. Jeffords welcomes him back and they head over to meet with Walker’s new partner.
Malone is a little bit nervous. She heard about Detective Walker, of course. She shakes his hand and tries to remain professional, but it still feels weird to see him so soon, after… what happened. She presents herself and lists her accomplishments and Jeffords is really proud of her, Walker… doesn’t seem impressed. He asks what she’s working on and she says she recently got assigned a kidnapping case. Walker smiles, they shouldn’t be having a mundane discussion while someone’s life is in danger. They both grab their coat and head outside.
As they drive there, Malone asks Walker questions about his life, having small talk, but Walker has enough. He cuts to the chase and he says he’s going to answer the question she’s too afraid to ask; no, he does not remember what happened. It creates a tension between them and they don’t talk again until they’ve reached their destination. Malone pulled in a cafe, where they’ll talk details about the case so he can be up to date. Walker agrees, but he insists they don’t talk about personal things and Malone has no other choice than to comply.
Malone gives Walker all the details of her kidnapping case. A rich man’s daughter has been kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel and he went to the police in hopes of finding her safe and sound. He has absolutely no intention of paying the hefty ransom they are asking for. Walker points out the man is probably sketchy and has ties to the underworld because the Mexican cartels don’t kidnap your daughter just for fun. Walker wants to go talk to the man to find out what he can. Malone agrees, but first, Walker has to hit the bathroom. In there, he sees Tm Gardner again. Gardner asks him if he likes his new partner, she’s young and cute and to be honest, she would be an upgrade from Sarah. Walker doesn’t even dare to answer him and he pushes him on the wall and leaves. Malone asks him if he’s alright and he shrugs it off, he’s good to go.
They park in front of the mansion and are welcomed by John (James Spader) a rich philanthropist. He guides them to his spacious living room and someone else knocks at the door. Walker shares his opinion about John to Malone. There’s no way that guy can have this house without doing something sketchy, there are a bunch of fancy paintings are sculptures everywhere. Malone doesn’t think it’s that bad and they should go easy on him, his daughter was kidnapped and he’s clearly grieving. John comes back with another guest, private investigator Auguste Bastien (John C. Reilly), an old friend of Karl Walker and hated by most police officers for middling in their business. Karl swears when he sees Bastien and he refuses to talk to him. Malone whispers to him to be polite, he could be useful, but still Walker refuses to acknowledge his presence. John retells the event leading to his daughter’s disappearance. She was leaving college campus and was supposed to meet her driver in the parking lot, but she never made it to the parking lot. No proofs, no cameras, there’s nothing that could help them find her. Auguste says the police will think this is a dead end, but he’ll find his daughter. However, John isn’t ready to let them go yet. He received a video from his daughter. He guides them to his projection room, Godfather posters hung up on the wall, and he lights up the screen with a video from his daughter, Jane (Peyton Roi List). Obviously reading cue cards, she tells the generic kidnapping message and she sobs uncontrollably at the end. A masked man comes in the frame and makes his demands known. He wants an extravagant amount of money and full immunity for his previous crimes. Malone and Auguste are taking notes like crazy, like they are stenographs, but Walker couldn’t care less. He makes up his own mind and left the room to collect his thoughts as he started to feel dizzy. As soon as the video ends, he gets Malone and they leave, but not forgetting to throw an insult at Auguste before doing so.
Jasmine asks Walker if he found anything sarcastically, knowing full well he barely watched the video. He the sarcastically ask her if she has a lead and she answers negatively. He asks her if he really wasn’t listening and not taking his job seriously, then why does he have a lead. Jasmine doesn’t understand what’s happening and Walker says that while she was busy acting like a stenographer, he noticed a tattoo the masked men had on his right hand after he handled the camera. Jasmine says they should investigate this lead and congratulates him for his good work, but Walker refuses to be congratulated for doing what he’s supposed to do. He shares his pretty cynical point of view about the job, saying it’s more of working with your instinct and your gut other than trying to stick to the books and rules like Malone seems to be doing. She thanks her for the tip, but once again, he refuses to be thanked. She promises him she’ll make him smile one day. He doubts it will ever happen.
Karl Walker is parking his car in his front yard and he notices all blinds are closed, but the lights are on. He sips on his vodka flask and hides it in his glove compartment. He goes to the front door, but it’s locked. He unlocks it and his partly blinded by the light. He opens his eyes again and…
Walker wakes up breathing heavily. He fell asleep on his couch rocked by a whiskey bottle. Tim Gardner is sitting in front of him. Gardner asks him how his day went and Walker says it went great. Gardner asks him if he peeked at Jasmine’s ass today and as we see a couple of flashbacks of Walker doing so, he says he hasn’t. Gardner says she’s cute while drinking from another bottle of whiskey. Pointing at his head, he asks Walker is he was in pain today and if he felt the urge to calm down and relax, but Walker says he’s alright now. He has to take a piss real bad now, so he heads to the bathroom, only to find Sarah coming out of the shower. They kiss and he tells her how much he missed her today. She says he stinks of alcohol and he should take care of himself; pills, drugs and alcohol, that’s a bad mix that’s going to kill him one day, his body will just give up. Finishing his business and washing his hands, Walker says it’s not going to happen, but Sarah asks him why he takes drugs in the first place and Walker yells at her that she knows it’s to forget. He goes back to his kitchen, swallows a couple of pills and falls asleep in his bed.
There’s only one lamp turned on in the entire precinct and it belongs to Jasmine Malone. She’s doing her best to find John’s daughter, but the focus of tonight’s research is Det. Karl Walker. She can’t help but fill a shiver down her spine every time she looks at Walker’s case file. Blood everywhere, a real carnage. She closes the folder and puts it back where it belongs as she wonders how a man can come back to work so easily after the death of his wife and best friend. The focus shifts back to Walker’s house. Gardner was never there and neither was Sarah. They’re all a product of Walker’s imagination, he’s trying to forget them. The case file says they were killed in a break in and Jasmine can’t wrap her head on how Karl is already back to work.
Rafael Guzman (Luis Guzman) slaps Jane across the face to wake her up and it is effective. He’s wearing a mask again so she can’t see his face. He woke he up specifically to tell her he’ll send a severed horse head to her father and he will cover it with her blood. Jane tries to break free again but can’t. Rafael removes her mouth gag and she says she wants to do another video after he sends the head. Rafael says it was the plan all along, so she can go ahead and make one. She says it’s nice, but she’s writing the script. It’s all good for Rafael, he simply wants the money and then he’s out.
Karl enters the precinct and is welcomed by his superior. He refuses to talk to him, his head hurts like hell and he has a hard time to adjust to the bright lights lighting up the precinct. Jeffords follows him and takes him to his office. Jeffords knows what Karl has been through and he understands him, but he needs him to lay off the alcohol, or else he will need to take actions. Karl says he understands, but he’s just trying to forget. Jeffords is comprehensive, but he can’t do his job when he’s hungover, like he is, right now. Karl pours himself a cup of coffee and drinks it all in one shot. Jeffords tell him he’ll have no choice but to suspend him if it ever happens again. Karl can’t believe it, so he pleads his case to him. He confesses that his first day back did him real good and he was able to take his mind off the tragedy and enjoy life for the first time in a long time. Jeffords says it’s good, but still, he should stay sober. He’s going to have the chance to really put the incident in the past when they say one last goodbye to his old partner Tim Gardner at his funeral tomorrow. Karl refuses to go and throws a tantrum on why it’s not a good idea for him to go there, but Jeffords says it would be a great way for him to say one final goodbye. Jasmine arrives at work later than usual following her late night investigation on Karl. She hears the scene in the bullpen and runs over to see it. She asks what it is about, but Karl grabs her by the arm and escorts her out of the precinct, he says it’s time for them to do their job so he can get out of here.
John wakes up and puts on a silk bathrobe. He hears a subtle knock on his door and heads over to see who’s at his doorstep so early in the morning. He opens the door, only to find a severed horse head in a box with no message. He panics, grabs the box and throws the head in his dumpster and leaves the box on his front porch, before calling Auguste Bastien first and then the police. During this time, Rafael is questioning Jane about her father’s fortune. She swears she doesn’t know anything, she’s just daddy’s little girl and nothing more. She doesn’t know anything. Rafael finds it odd that a smart young woman like her doesn’t know about it and he whispers in her ear that her father is a bad man and he’s going to be surprised when he sees the horse head on his front porch filled with her blood. She asks them if he will ever hurt her, but he says only stupid kidnappers hurt their victim, as he prepares to fill another bag of her blood.
Karl looks around in his house, something feels odd, but he can’t quite put the finger on it. An empty bottle of wine lays on the table alongside Chinese takeout. He hears something coming from the other side of the house. He silently grabs his gun and walks carefully in its direction. His bedroom door is slightly open…
Karl drinks from his spiked coffee out of a thermos as he looks inside the box filled with blood. In the meantime, Jasmine is asking John questions. Karl takes a few steps back and lays back on a wall. He sees his wife, Sarah. She tells him he can make a move if he wants to, as he’s staring at Jasmine. She’s allowing him to move on. He says it’s ridiculous, he wanted to spend his life with and he will never forget her. She says she has done terrible things to him and she doesn’t deserve to be with him. He says she’s right, but a loser like him will never meet someone as good as her. Sarah says it’s bullocks and she wasn’t a good woman to him. Karl can’t take it anymore and walks away, he’s on the verge of crying. He swears as he sees Auguste arrive. Jasmine can sense Karl is about to do something he’ll regret to the private investigator so she reaches over to him. She knocks his coffee over and it spills on the ground, she can smell the alcohol. He looks ah her and his eyes are begging for her to not tell anyone. She looks away. He says they’ll watch him work, he has already figured it out anyway. Auguste takes out a magnifying glass, as Karl chuckles. He looks inside the box and touches it without gloves. Karl slips away from Jasmine and shoves Auguste down, saying he’s butchering his investigation. He says he has it all figure it out. He asks Jasmine to head over to the dumpster has John is starting to sweat. He reaches over to him and puts John under arrest. Jasmine says he can’t do that and he asks her to take a look in the trash. She uncovers the horse head and he says John is purposely withholding information to hide information about his life and Karl intends to know what it is. No one becomes as rich as John out of nowhere and his fortune has always been subject to speculations. They get in their car as Jasmine says Walker to never cease to amaze her.
When they get back to the station, Karl interrogates John alongside Jasmine. He gets close to the man, and John tells him to lay off the booze, his boss wouldn’t like to know. Jake Jeffords, who’s watching on the other side of the mirror shakes his head in disbelief. Karl says he’s asking the question and he’s the one who wants to know things. Jasmine wants to know why he threw away the horse head. Karl shushes him, he’ll take a guess. He knows John is a Godfather fan (flashback to the posters in the projection room) and you know what happens when you mess with the Corleone family. They send you a horse head and that’s exactly what John received. John wants to call his lawyer, but Karl reminds him that only guilty people call their lawyer. John says he had ties with the mafia in the past, but it’s all over now. He says the mafia is not behind the kidnapping, for all he knows, the Latins are behind everything. They contacted him in the past and he turned them down. He screwed them over in the past too. The price they’re asking is for the amount he screwed them. Karl pats him on the shoulder, with a little effort you can really progress. Jasmine tells him they’re going to find his daughter, but they’re not done with him.
Jake is waiting for Karl and he wants to have a talk with him. Jake received a call from Auguste Bastien and he placed a formal complaint against him for police brutality. In the meantime, he’s suspended. Karl can’t believe it, Bastien was tampering with evidence and that screw up was sabotaging his investigation. Jake says he doesn’t care, he shouldn’t have done it. He also learn that he’s been drinking on the job a couple of minutes ago. He says he’s a really good detective, but he needs to get his life back on track before he can wear the badge again. Karl reluctantly gives him his gun and badge and he tells him he doesn’t think he will ever be the man he once was. Jake allows him to come to the funeral tomorrow. It would mean a lot for Gardner’s family. Walker will think about it. When he gets out of the office, Jasmine asks him if he’s coming to raid the Latino’s headquarters to find Jane, but Walker says he isn’t feeling well, he’ll let her do it alone. She’s talented and smart, she’ll manage. Jasmine accepts and notices Jeffords giving him a mean look, so she leaves Walker alone.
Jasmine is leading a group of armed cops into the Latin gang hideout with the hopes of finding Jane alive. She orders the go-ahead and the police go down to business. She hears a man saying they found her and he runs over there to see Jane alive and well. They put Rafael under arrest and she promises Jane to bring her back to her father. She calls Walker to tell him the good news, but he doesn’t seem happy about it.
Walker hangs up and he’s standing in front of Dr. Miller’s office. She lets him in and he asks her if anything he says will ever leave this room and she says that of course, nothing will ever leave this room. He says it’s good, because he’s ready to have a real talk with her, to get things off his chest. She grabs a notebook and says she’s ready when he is.
The following day, Jasmine and Walker are waiting for Karl to arrive at Gardner’s funeral, but Walker is still at home, trying to sober himself up. He puts on his uniform and his medals and looks at himself one last time before leaving. It is raining outside and once he arrives at the church, Jeffords welcomes him and announces him he’ll be sitting at the front and he can have his own bench. Walker thanks him for the indication, as the funeral is about to start.
Walker looks at Gardner’s picture. Gardner appears next to him and criticizes his own picture, saying he was prettier than that. He also says it must be weird for him to be here in front of all these people and pretend to grief. He turns around and he’s surprised to see so many people, h was a jerk after all. Sarah appears on the other side and she says Gardner was not a jerk and shouldn’t be too harsh on himself. Gardner adds that it must be hard for him to see him and Sarah side-by-side again. He mentions it’s funny how people think he died a hero and Walker stops listening to him.
Walker pushes his bedroom door a bit and he sees Sarah dressing up. She tells him he frightened her, but he can’t come in. Walker says he had a long day, so she should take that top off again and he enters the bedroom and sees Tim Gardner in his boxers. He adds one and one and figures out what was happening. He confronts Gardner about it and it sparks a fight between the two as Sarah begs them to stop. After exchanging a few lefts and rights, they each grab their gun and threaten each other. Gardner was high and drunk. Gardner tries to shoot at Walker, but he stumbles and miss, but Walker doesn’t miss. He shoots Gardner between the eyes. Sarah is crying and she asks him what he did. She loved him more than he can imagine. Walker still doesn’t know what happened to him, but he shot her too. Walker is standing in his bedroom with his dead wife and partner.
Walker can’t take it anymore and he gets up and leaves the funeral in the pouring rain, as Jasmine and Jake look on, not knowing Karl killed both Gardner and Sarah. Karl, soaking wet, cries and runs away from the church in the thunderstorm, forever a changed man.
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