First Hit: I was pleasantly surprised that the story was different than I thought it would be – it was about revenge and maybe revenge not being the; be all end all.
Alphonse (Terrence Howard) is having his organization being picked apart, person by person. He’s being sent clues of small square sections of a larger picture.
The picture shows who's doing the killing. Part of his crew of people, who take over buildings and get rid of people who try to hang on in the building, is Victor (Colin Farrell). The crew forces people out of buildings and re-rents them for higher rent.
Although Victor seems engaged with the group, he has other things going on but has gained Alphonse’s trust. From his apartment he can view another section of the building that has a resident to whom we waves at from time to time.
This resident (Beatrice played by Noomi Rapace) convinces him to go out with her one evening and she tells him she wants him to kill the guy who drove into her car which caused massive facial scars. She wants revenge. But why would he do this? She has a film of Victor killing someone and is it using blackmail.
As the film unfolds we learn more about Victor and why he’s doing what he’s doing and his ultimate plan.
Farrell is, as usual, very strong as the troubled, focused man and here he wants revenge. Howard is very good as the frightened but powerful leader of a bunch of thugs. Rapace is phenomenal as the damaged woman who slowly is letting herself care. I loved how the subtle movements in her face brought forth such a plethora of feelings and emotions. Dominic Cooper was strong as Farrell’s thug friend. Isabelle Huppert was wonderful as Valentine, Rapace’s mother.
Overall: Being pleasantly surprised was good and overall the film delivered a satisfying result.