Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Writers: Jimmy Ellis & Chad Taylor
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Jennifer Lawrence, Mel Gibson, Hayley Atwell, Andrew Scott, Diego Luna, Jim Broadbent, Callie Hernandez
Plot: November 16th, 2013, 1:27 am. It's early Saturday on the streets of Deep Ellum in downtown Dallas. Loud music from the various bars and hotspots blend into each other as a drunk patrons exit one of the establishments. A young blonde twenty something tells his friends that he has to excuse himself before they call an Uber. He enters an alleyway and starts to relieve himself before stopping mid-stream as he smells something revolting. He stumbles to a nearby dumpster and is stunned to find a corpse of a woman behind it. He calls over to his friends before starting to vomit at the smell.
The dawn is breaking and Dallas PD detective Jake Donato (Ryan Gosling) examines the body as different officers work on the crime scene. He lights a cigarette as he takes a look at the flower in the woman's hand and a colleague asks if it is a bluebonnet. “The state flower of Texas”, Jake says. The colleague asks "not the White Rose?" and Jake shakes his head no.
At the station, Jake talks to Hal Kennedy (Mel Gibson), head of the homicide division. They discuss the emerging trend: two dead prostitutes, both with flowers in their hand, no other DNA left at the scene. Hal tells Jake that they are officially going to start an investigation into the relation between the two and Jake will be the lead detective. He calls in Jake's partner on the case: Caroline Rusk (Jennifer Lawrence), an outspoken young forensics expert who was once hailed as a protégé in her field, something her colleagues never hear the end of. Considering she recently moved to Dallas, Jake has never worked with Rusk before but warns her that he's heard stories and he wants no funny business in this case. She tells them she's ready to help in whatever way she can.
After Hal leaves, Caroline invites Jake to some drinks. He's hesitant, saying he doesn't socialize with his co-workers much. She is insistent that she is not hitting on him or anything, just figures they should get to know each other as new partners. He reluctantly agrees. At the bar, their conversation is interrupted by a call from Jake's wife Heather (Hayley Atwell). Afterwards, he explains to Caroline that Heather is currently in Germany for business. She asks if him that makes him lonely but he says he keeps busy. He asks her how she is getting adjusted to the town. She says it is taking time but, just like him, she stays busy. He looks at the number of glasses gathering up in front of her on the table and jokes that that is certainly one way to stay busy.
November 26th, 2013, 5:00 am. Jake’s alarm goes off he reaches over and puts it on snooze. His phone starts ringing, he reluctantly gets out of bed to get it. He answers the call and on the other line is Caroline, she tells him she has been digging and one of the prostitutes the first victim worked with thinks she has a lead. Jake tells her to bring her in for questioning.
Jake gets out of his car and pulls out a cigarette. He starts smoking but sees Caroline at the entrance signalling for him to come inside, he does so. She tells him that he has to hear what the woman has to say. Jake is a bit angry at Caroline because she has already interviewed the woman. He walks into the interrogation room and pulls up the chair. He asks the prostitute (Callie Hernandez) for her name. She tells him it is Jessica Lee. He asks what she has that she thinks is a lead. She says that she was friends with Candice (the first victim) she says that Candice was fighting a lot with her ex-boyfriend when she went missing. The ex-boyfriend didn’t like her profession even though it was just to make a little money. Jake asks her if she knows the name, she doesn’t. She knows where he hangs out at the local club and gives Jake a photo of the man (Diego Luna). He knows the man and says that his name Francisco Javier, a man that has had a few run in’s with the law. He sends for some officers to pick him up.
While they wait, Caroline and Jake talk. She says that she thinks this could be the guy. Jake tells her not to get ahead of herself. He says he disagrees he knows Francisco he may be a thief but he would never kill anybody. She says that he seems to know Francisco a lot. He says they went to school together, Francisco was the really quiet kid and was made fun of, but Jake stuck up for him.
The officers bring in Francisco in cuffs and put him in the seat. He greets Jake with a smile, before asking him to take his cuffs off. Jake gets them off and gets right to the point. He shows a photo of Candice’s mutilated body with the rose. He asks him is he is the man who did this, if he is The Bluebonnet Butcher. Francisco looks at the photo and tears begin to well in his eyes, he asks if that is Candice. Jake nods and Francisco puts his head in his hands, he says he loved her. Jake doubles down on the question. Francisco shakes his head. Candice jumps in, aggressive she says she knows that he did it. She scolds him for looking down on prostitution even though that is how he met Candice - fucking hypocrite. Jake tells her to calm down. He tells her that Francisco didn’t do it, he can tell when he is lying and it is not now. He apologises to Francisco and tells him that he is free to go.
Candice and Jake argue in Jake’s office about letting Francisco go. Hal walks out of his door and yells out to them both to get to his office. They walk in sheepish and after much talk Hal tells them both to go home for the day. Jake storms out of the office and out the doors.
December 4th, 2013, 3:05 am. Jake’s phone rings and he slowly wakes to answer it. Hal is on the other line and tells him that there has been another murder. He tells him the address and to get there ASAP, he wants no arguments with Caroline today.
Jake arrive at the crime scene and walks straight toward the taped off area. Caroline tells him that another murder has happened, she takes him to a dumpster where the mutilated body is. The face is mutilated and there is no identification on her. There is a Bluebonnet in one hand. He looks for tattoos and finds one on her wrist, he recalls the interview from the day before and remembers that Jessica had the same tattoo. He looks to Caroline and says she may be right, maybe Francisco did do these things. He may have found out Jessica told them about him. He sends officers to pick up Francisco again.
Jake gets a call from one of the officers, the officer tells him that Francisco was found dead in his own home, suicide. Jake’s face goes into his hand. Caroline apologizes to Jake. He says he needs to go to the airport and wait for Heather. He asks Caroline to finish up here. Caroline says she understands and will.
Caroline goes to the bar after work and is approached by a man who offers her a drink. She is hesitant but chooses to accept. He introduces himself as Xander (Andrew Scott) and they start to hit it off. She starts to take a liking to Xander, who is warm and inquisitive. As they continue to drink, Caroline becomes more open about her job and starts to let off steam about the recent investigation. She mentions scarce details - the prostitutes, the flowers, the mutilation - but Xander wants to change the topic as it gets to morbid.
They are both many drinks in at this point and Caroline gets hungry so she orders some food. When she starts to eat, she starts to hyper-ventilate and Xander jumps into action. She finds it hard to breathe and he is quick to call an ambulance. Despite having just met her, he follows her to the hospital and stays by her side, concerned. The nurses tell her that her vitals are getting back to normal but it seems she had an extreme allergic reaction. Caroline, now sobering up, tells the nurse that she has an immune disease that makes the presence of certain ingredients as deathly dangerous to her. Usually she is aware but, ashamedly, her inebriated state prevented it this time.
Once she is discharged, Xander recommends that she get a support dog who is trained at sensing certain smells and can protect her against certain foods. He then says he was going to ask if she wanted to go to his place while at the bar but now it is a little awkward. She smiles and thanks him for supporting her and says she would still like that.
At the airport, Heather’s plane arrives and she and Jake share a long embrace. On the way home, she talks about her trip and asks how things have been while she was gone. He tells her about the Bluebonnet investigation and the stress it is putting on him. He says that he has been assigned a reckless partner and that that is becoming half of the battle. Heather, always one to be the devil’s advocate, suggests he get to know his partner outside of the work setting and maybe they will get along better.
Caroline, in Xander’s bed, receives a phone call in the very early morning. It is Hal. He demands that she report the station ASAP. When she arrives at the station, everyone is looking at her with disgust and Hal calls her into his office. He says that a fellow officer saw her drinking with Dallas Morning News crime reporter Xander Newsome last night and asks what she was thinking. She swears she didn’t know. He asks if she told him anything about the investigation and she is about to lie but then admits that she told him some stuff. Hal, seething with anger, is quick to call Jake and request him to come to work.
When Jake arrives, Hal informs them that they are going to have to prep an early press conference so that they beat the Morning News to the punch and it doesn’t look like they are hiding anything. Jake tells them that this is a whole new ballgame now.
At the press conference, Hal and Jake are front-and-center and brief the public on the information they know right now. Xander is one of the reporters and he and Caroline share an ashamed bit of eye contact. Jake points out that sex work is still illegal but he advises anyone who may practice it to stay off the streets until the investigation concludes. He says that if anyone knows anything to send in tips.
After the press conference, Jake sees that Caroline is bummed out by the events of the past 12 hours and says they should go for a drive. On the drive, Caroline is in tears saying she feels like the pariah in this situation. Jake tells her that Hal likes to work at his own speed so this just disrupted that, plus the public announcement could make things more difficult as things like copycat killers could arise.
She apologizes about the Francisco incident and he says that he has just extremely hesitant lately. A few months back, just after Heather left, there was a murder investigation on the west side. While they were serving a warrant, their suspect became hostile and tried to physically attack the officers. Jake was the one to shoot her in the head. Caroline says that must have been awful. Jake says that’s not all. Moments later, the woman’s young daughter came inching out of a nearby closet - hysterical after having seen her mother dead. Jake has not been able to shake that image or those sounds from his head. He's been perpetually tired ever since. It is training him. Caroline holds his hand and says that’s the tough part of their job.
December 21st, 3:00pm. Jake and Caroline stare at a board with yarn connecting all victims to one man in the middle. A businessman (Jim Broadbent), one of the richest in town, Spencer Warrington. They request a warrant for his arrest and are given it. Jake decides not to send an officer to pick him up but rather go and get him himself.
Jake with many other officers raid his building. Jake and two other officers take the elevator to the penthouse and others wait at the entrance and the stairs. Jake busts the door and arrests Spencer.
Jake and Caroline interrogate Spencer. They demand to know why he does the murders, he is confused. He has no clue what they are talking about, he didn’t kill anyone? They double down on their question. Spencer doesn’t answer. Jake leaves the room to speak with Hal, Caroline stays. She stares into Spencer’s eyes and asks if he is trying to make her angry. Spencer has a confused look. Caroline yells at Spencer and threatens him. He begins to tear up and admits that he runs an illegal service that utilises sex workers, but he wouldn’t kill his workers. Caroline disagrees and as Jake comes back in she tells him what he said. Jake calls him scum and locks him up. Afterwards, Jake, Caroline, and Hal celebrate in Hal's office, thinking they've gotten their guy.
December 22nd, 5:00 am. Jake and Heather wake to a ringing, it’s Jake’s phone. He picks it up and its Hal, he tells him that the next victim has been found, and this time something was left at the scene that Jake should be worried about. He asks the address and is given it, he hangs up. Jake reaches over and embraces Heather, he tells her he will be back ASAP.
Jake arrives at the scene and is greeted by Caroline. She talks quickly and cannot be heard clearly. He tells her to slow down. She says she thinks Heather and he may be the next victims. Jake is unsure why as the murderer has only killed prostitutes before. She shows him a card near the body, it’s an old business card of Jake’s. He shakes a bit but composes himself. Hal walks up to him and says that he has organised a safe house for both him and Heather. Jake doesn’t want to but Hal says he must. Hal says that Jake is like a son to him and if he lost him he wouldn’t know what to do.
Jake nods and understands but still is upset.
As Jake is unloading his car, he notices some Bluebonnet flowers in his trunk and his heart sinks. He expedites the moving process and tells Heather they need to get inside ASAP. Jake and Heather get accustomed to their new surroundings. They finish up putting up a small Christmas tree. As they lay down for bed, he mentions that his partner is quite the looker but he tells her he has no attraction to her. He puts his arm around Heather and mentions how lonely he had been during the time she was gone and that hopefully she doesn’t have any more business trips in the near future. She cuddles into his arms and asks what he did the other night when he snuck out in the middle of the night. Jake is confused and says he has no memory of waking up in the middle of the night. Maybe he’s a sleepwalker now? He mentions that the safehouse has surveillance so maybe he will use those cameras to see if he does it again tonight. She laughs and says maybe he’ll catch a glimpse of Santa, too.
December 24th, Christmas Eve, 11:54pm. Caroline awakes to a knock on her door. There is a wrapped gift on her doorstep. She looks into the sky, as if for Santa. She opens it and finds that is a box of chocolates. However, before she eats it, her skin starts to flare up and she knows that she is allergic to it and immediately throws it out. She figures that she is being targeted by the Butcher, too, and thinks of who knows of her illness. Xander is the only one.
She takes things into her own hand and arrives at Xander’s home. When he opens the door, she lets herself in and aggressively asks why he would try to kill her. Get to get her off his scent? He has no clue what she is talking about. She tells him about the gift and says he is the only one who knew about her situation. He swears it wasn’t him and talks her off the ledge. She comes to her senses and decides that if the Butcher knows about her personal secrets, then he probably knows where the safehouse is, as well.
December 25th, 4:01am. Jake wakes up briefly, before trying to fall asleep again. He sees snow falling heavily outside his window. Before he can get back to sleep, he catches a horrid smell and opens his eyes fully to find himself covered in blood. He rolls over to find blood all over Heather’s part of the bed. As he wearily gets up, he is horrified to discover her mutilated corpse next to the bed. He is in shock as he begins to pace the apartment. He then realizes that the surveillance is still rolling. He is afraid to check it but watches anyway. He is in the kitchen with a cutting knife and goes to Heather in bed, who wakes to the sound of footsteps. A tussle ensues and this is when Jake turns off the feed. He can’t watch anymore.
He begins pacing around the room, unsure of how to come to grips with what he has done. Talking to himself, he hypothesizes that the incident with the young child a few months ago must’ve triggered some sort of dissociative identity disorder within him. This side of him leaves home every night and craves to murder just as he did that day. He knows that it is only a matter of time before the police see the surveillance footage so he debates what he should do. Go on the run or kill himself? Someone else makes the choice for him as a knock comes upon the door. It’s Caroline.
Jake isn’t sure what to do as he doesn’t know how much she knows. She yells out to Jake from the outside and he cracks the door open. He says he can’t talk right now but she says that he feels like the Butcher might know where the safehouse is and that he and Heather are in danger. An indistinguishable look washes over his eyes, relieved that she doesn’t know but still haunted by what he has done to his wife. He lies to her and says that Heather is already off to work so he’ll come with her.
They leave in Caroline’s squad car and she wishes Jake a merry Christmas. She is ready to ask why Heather would be working on a holiday. As they drive, other police cars start to tail them and suddenly a spotlight shines on their car from a police helicopter. Caroline is about to pull over but Jake tells her to keep driving.
As Caroline is shaken, Jake confesses to her what he thinks he has done. The split personality and all that jazz. Caroline is shaken, unsure of what to say or do as she harbors a criminal and is the subject of a police chase from her colleagues. She calmly tells Jake that he knows that “he” wouldn’t do those things, even if he technically did. She says they can probably get him committed to institution but he tells her he can’t do it. He can’t live with what he’s done.
News helicopters have now joined the chase as Caroline navigates through the Christmas morning snow on the highway. Jake pulls out his gun and holds it up to his chin which prompts Caroline to pull over immediately. She tells him not to do this but when he looks at her, there is a different look in his eyes. This sends chills down Caroline’s spine, sensing that it is not Jake anymore. As soon as the gun moves away from his chin, Caroline quickly pulls her gun out and shoots Jake. This gravely injures him and struggles to breathe. He tells her to finish the job but she is frozen as this does sound like the Jake she knows. He asks her “please”.
The police behind them get out of their cars and start inching towards the vehicles. He asks please again and says he can’t live with this. She tells she’s sorry and shoots him again in the chest, ending his life. She crumbles out of the vehicle with her hands up as a bright spotlight shines on her.
A few days later, Hal and Caroline discuss what has happened. Caroline laments her inability to successfully solve the case in time but Hal says they never could have guessed it was Jake. And his police instincts were so good that he never left DNA behind. She tells him that she will never be the same after this and that she is quitting the force. He thanks her for her service and wishes her the best.
Afterwards, she gets in contact with her physician and adopts a German Shepherd who can support her emotionally and protect her health. She names him Lex, after her hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. She begins looking at apartments in different cities so she can leave Dallas behind.
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