Now Showing: Sniper

 

Sniper

Genre: Action/Thriller

Director: Jose Padilha

Writer: Nic Suzuki

Based on the 1993 film

Cast: Josh Brolin, Michael Pena, Demian Bichir, Adria Arjona, Ed Harris

Plot: Tom Beckett (Josh Brolin) lies prone on a jagged, snow-covered rock ledge in a mountain range in an undisclosed Eastern European county. His breath is controlled as he dials in the scope of his sniper rifle. He watches a heavily guarded mountain villa below where a high-value target - a military arms dealer - is hosting a meeting. Beckett makes adjustments for wind and elevation. In his earpiece, Richard Miller (Michael Pena), overseeing from a nearby outpost, checks in. After hours of silence, the target steps outside for a smoke, flanked by guards. Beckett breathes in, exhaling slowly as he takes the shot. The man collapses without a sound as a mist of blood splatters on the snow. Chaos breaks out below, but Beckett is already on the move as he dismantles his rifle. He meets Miller at an extraction helicopter, and they fly away.

Beckett is back in the United States, sitting alone in a bar off some dusty rural highway. While nursing a drink, he stares at a real estate pamphlet in front of him advertising acreage in Montana. His phone vibrates. It's Miller, asking for a sit-down. Beckett knows before the call ends that there's another mission - one final job they always say. At a clandestine CIA safehouse, Miller lays out the assignment. The target is President Miguel Alvarez (Demian Bichir) of Colombia. Beckett bristles - he doesn't like political jobs. Miller sidesteps Beckett's moral protest, assuring him that this one is sanctioned at the highest levels as Alvarez is too idealistic and looking to disrupt cartel and drug control in Colombia, while the CIA wants to maintain the status quo. Beckett doesn't respond.

At a bar off a narrow street in Bogota, Colombia, Beckett sits alone, drink in hand, watching a grainy television bolted above the counter. President Miguel Alvarez is giving a speech—promising to dismantle cartel influence, push out foreign interference, and rebuild Colombia for its people. The locals mostly tune it out. Beckett, half-watching, mutters something dismissive under his breath about how politicians love to talk. A woman at the bar, Maria (Adria Arjona), asks if he always sneers at hope or just when it doesn’t come wrapped in a foreign flag. Beckett gives her a tired shrug, calling it nothing personal. But she doesn’t back off. She launches into a quiet but cutting monologue—about how men like him have judged her country for decades, how her family has lived through the violence and corruption he likely only reads about in reports. Then, she reveals that President Alvarez is her father. She tells him her father’s not perfect, but he’s the first leader in a generation to challenge the cartels and the foreign powers that helped create them. She doesn’t know who Beckett is or why he’s here, but she leaves him with a warning: if he thinks Alvarez is just another corrupt politician, he’s either misinformed—or willfully blind. Then she walks out, leaving Beckett staring at the TV in silence, the speech still playing.

Later that night, Beckett finds Miller alone on the rooftop of their safehouse, overlooking the lights of Bogotá. Beckett asks why they were really sent here. Miller doesn’t look surprised. Becket mentions what Maria told him - that Alvarez is trying to end cartel power, that he’s pushing out foreign contractors, that his government refuses to play by U.S. rules. He wants to know if it’s true. Miller doesn’t flinch. He admits that Alvarez is doing everything he promised, and that’s exactly why they’ve been sent to eliminate him. But Miller makes it clear: their job isn’t about right or wrong. It’s about maintaining the balance of power. Miller reminds him that it's nothing personal - it never is. 

The next morning, Bogotá is buzzing with celebration for the country's Unity Day. Parades roll through the city, fireworks echo in the distance, and in the main plaza, a massive stage has been set for President Alvarez to deliver his keynote address. From a half-crumbled, abandoned apartment building across the square, Beckett lies prone behind his scope. Miller sits nearby, casually checking comms and sipping coffee like it’s any other job. Beckett lines up his shot. The range is perfect. Alvarez is moments from stepping up to the podium. Through the scope, Beckett sees both President Alvarez and his daughter Maria.  Beckett breathes in. Then he lifts his finger from the trigger. He tells Miller quietly that he’s not doing it. He’s out. Miller doesn’t argue. He just rises, grabs his own rifle, and moves toward the window. That’s when Beckett stops him—grabbing his arm. For a moment, it’s still. Then the fight explodes. It’s sudden, savage, and without words. Two trained killers go at each other inside the decaying room, using fists, elbows, broken furniture, anything within reach. Miller slams Beckett into a wall and reaches for his sidearm, but Beckett kicks it away. Beckett pins Miller and drives a broken shard of wood into his gut. Miller gasps, bleeding out, muttering something about how Beckett never understood how the world works. Beckett holds his stare but says nothing. He leaves him slumped in the corner, grabs his pack, and vanishes down the stairwell.

Beckett exits the building and enters the crowded plaza mid parade. Beckett slips into the maze of side streets and alleyways, shedding pieces of gear, scanning constantly. He knows the CIA has contingencies, and Miller wasn’t their only move. Blending into the edge of the crowd, Beckett spots Maria in the front rows, waving a small Colombian flag. He pushes forward through the crowd toward her, brushing past families, vendors, and bodyguards. Once he reaches her, Beckett tells Maria that she and her father are not safe. She sees men in suits closing in through the crowd. Beckett realizes they've been watching him, waiting to see what he would do. Now they know. He makes a quick decision—splits away from Maria, drawing the attention to himself while she moves toward the stage to warn her father. Sirens begin to blare. Security tightens. In seconds, Bogotá erupts from celebration into confusion. Maria tells her father that a foreign operative has warned her that they need to leave the area. Alvarez's aides are wary of her information, but Alvarez believes his daughter. He quickly calls off the public address, retreating behind a wall of security. 

Meanwhile, Beckett is already blocks away, ducking into alleyways, hopping fences, and blending into the city's underbelly. He knows they won’t arrest him—they’ll kill him on sight. The agency can't afford to let a sniper with knowledge of an unsanctioned hit walk around with a conscience. Through his earpiece, still tuned to the CIA's frequency, he hears a voice he recognizes: William Long (Ed Harris), the deputy director, ordering his men to bring Beckett in — and if that’s not possible, to leave nothing behind.

By dusk, the city is locked down. Beckett has made it to a vantage point on a hillside outside Bogotá — an old, half-demolished lookout used during the guerrilla conflicts decades ago. From here, he watches a private airstrip tucked beyond the edge of the city where armored SUVs have pulled up. It’s not government security. It’s CIA. In the scope of his rifle, Beckett spots William Long stepping out of a black vehicle. Long's expression says he already knows what happened. The mission failed. Miller’s dead. Beckett’s gone rogue. He’s here to clean it up. Beckett breathes steadily, crosshairs resting between Long’s eyes. His finger touches the trigger but doesn’t squeeze. Not yet. He flips the safety, shifts slightly, and fires — not at Long, but at the vehicle inches from his head. Long hits the ground for cover. Beckett speaks into his radio. He tells Long he could’ve ended him right now. That he won’t... yet. He informs the deputy director that President Alvarez knows about the assassination attempt. Beckett warns Long that if he or his men come for him or Alvarez again, the next shot won’t miss. Long scans the ridge, looking for Beckett's location. But Beckett’s already gone. 

The next day, Colombian news outlets are ablaze. President Alvarez holds a press conference. He tells the public of an attempt on his life by a foreign agency known for meddling in the region - implying but not directly naming the CIA. Maria stands beside him. Leaked footage begins circulating online - clips of the disrupted Unity Day speech, photos of Miller taken by local civilians just before the chaos. The CIA issues public denials, but behind closed doors, the operation is burned, records erased, loose ends quietly tied.

Far from the city, in the green hush of the Andes, Beckett arrives at a house nestled on a hillside overlooking a river bend. Waiting for him is an envelope - no name, just a national seal. Inside is a deed to the property - a gift from the President Alvarez for saving his life - and maybe a nation. 

Weeks pass. Beckett rises with the sun and feeds the chickens that came with the land. His rifle, once always within reach, now sits locked in a wooden chest.