SILENT NIGHT
NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by David G
Note: The entire film features no dialogue.
On December 24th, 2001, Brian Godlock (Joel Kinnaman) runs through the streets of Las Palomas, Texas, wearing a Christmas sweater and covered in blood. He chases after two cars in a shootout. After one car is killed, he attacks the second, and the drivers are killed by a forklift. Playa (Harold Torres) exits the car and shoots Brian in the back and throat.
Brian is taken to the hospital, where he is operated on as Christmas music plays. His wife, Saya (Catalina Sandino Moreno), arrives covered in blood. Detective Dennis Vassel (Scott Mescudi “Kid Cudi”) visits Brian. Over the following weeks, Saya helps Brian recover, but Brian has lost the ability to speak. Brian leaves the hospital after a month and grows angry on the drive home as they pass by signs of gang warfare in their neighborhood; Brian rips off his cross necklace.
Brian returns home and breaks down sobbing; he reads a newspaper with a headline about how Taylor was killed by a stray bullet in a gang shootout and starts to drink. Brian has a flashback to the incident on Christmas Eve morning that killed Taylor. In the present, Saya tries to break through to Brian, communicating through text messages, but he ignores her. In April, Brian goes to visit Detective Vassel’s office. He takes pictures of the photos local gang members on the wall, including Playa. Brian creates a murder board on the wall at home and writes “Kill Them All” on his calendar for the upcoming Christmas Eve. He spends the next few months getting in shape, learning fighting, weapons, and driving skills, and preparing for revenge. Brian and Saya become distant, and Saya eventually leaves him.
Brian does surveillance on the gang’s headquarters. He takes photographs of them handling large amounts of cash and weapons, as well as Playa having sex with his girlfriend Venus (Valeria Santaella). Saya texts Brian to check in as she and his family are worried about him, but he ignores the messages. Brian visits a hardware store, where he runs into Playa and a few of the gang members who are there giving money to local children. He is tempted to attack but restrains himself, though he is knocked to the ground by Venus, who then pours her ice cream on his face and laughs.
On December 23rd, Brian breaks into the home of Playa’s money man, Anthony (Vinny O’Brien), and attacks him. He brings Anthony back to his garage and ties him up. He attempts to force Anthony to provide information on Playa’s operation. Still, Anthony escapes, and the two fight throughout the house. Anthony stabs Brian twice, but Brian gains the upper hand and knocks Anthony unconscious again. On Christmas Eve, Brian prepares for battle. He drives by Saya’s house and sees her happy and making art inspired by Taylor. Brian visits Taylor’s grave with a wrapped present and opens it, revealing a train set. Detective Vassel gets a knock at his door and opens it to find Anthony bound and gagged with a Christmas card attached that includes a USB drive full of Brian’s research on Playa’s gang, including the answers from Anthony on specific operations. The card includes a note that reads “What you should have done. It ends tonight.”
Brian begins tracking down Playa’s men. He tracks two men outside of a bar and interrupts them as they rob a woman. He pins them against a wall with his car, then stabs one in the stomach and shoots the other as he climbs on top of the car. The gore makes Brian vomit, but he continues. He throws a note containing two severed fingers belonging to the men over the wall into Playa’s compound, which one of the thugs brings to Playa, who is now dressed in a Santa robe. At a nearby shootout involving rival gangs and the police, Brian arrives and kills multiple men while driving his car. He tries to rescue a police officer, but she is shot and killed. A gang member films a video of Brian’s car and sends it to Playa. Brian kills the man and sends a video of him doing so to Playa as well.
Playa contacts Ruiz (Yoko Hamamura) and tells him to kill Brian. Ruiz chases Brian, and they engage in a prolonged car chase and shootout that leaves all of Ruiz’s men dead. Ruiz is badly injured, and Brian escapes. As his car is heavily damaged, Brian now gets on a motorcycle. He breaks into the compound, killing more men as Playa spends time with Venus in the penthouse doing drugs and dancing. Brian makes his way through the compound tower, killing multiple men with his arsenal of guns and knives, plus hand-to-hand combat. As he nears the top floor, he is attacked again by Ruiz. The two have an extensive fight that ends when Brian shoots Ruiz in the head. Detective Vassel arrives at the warehouse, killing additional men before encountering a badly injured Brian. He holds Brian at gunpoint, but the two share an unspoken moment, and Vassel lets him go. Venus begins shooting at them both with a machine gun. She runs out of ammo, and Brian hesitates to kill her, which gives her the opportunity to pull another weapon out and shoot him in the chest. She shoots Vassel twice in the stomach before Brian can shoot and kill her.
Brian regains his strength and makes his way into Playa’s penthouse lair. The two men shoot at each other, but Playa hits Brian multiple times and knocks him to the ground. Playa is about to kill Brian when Vassel reappears and shoots him. Brian gets up and strangles Playa to death. Brian and Vassel lay on the floor next to each other, bleeding out. Brian has memories of Taylor’s life and visions of the life Taylor could have had as he appears to die. Sometime later, Saya sits at Taylor’s grave and reads a note from Brian in which he apologizes for what happened and that he knows there is nothing that can make it right, but he is willing to die trying.
