The Bomber: Now that I have your attention, listen very carefully. The device is connected to a pressure plate. If you get out of your seat, the bomb will detonate. Do you understand?
Matt: Yes.
The Bomber: There is a secondary trigger, a remote switch that I am holding as we speak. If you try to call the police, if you try to get help... I will detonate. I'm watching you. If you go somewhere I don't like, I will detonate. Do you understand everything I have said to you?
Matt: Yes.
The Bomber: There is a secondary trigger, a remote switch that I am holding as we speak. If you try to call the police, if you try to get help... I will detonate. I'm watching you. If you go somewhere I don't like, I will detonate. Do you understand everything I have said to you?
Retribution is a 2023 action thriller film directed by Nimród Antal (Predators) and starring Liam Neeson, Jack Champion, Lilly Aspell, Embeth Davidtz, Arian Moayed, Noma Dumezweni, and Matthew Modine. It is an English-language remake of the 2015 Spanish film El desconocido.
The film follows an ordinary father, Matt Turner, and his two children whose commute turns deadly when a mysterious stranger calls them and tells them that a bomb with a pressure trigger has been placed under their car seats. Now, Matt has no choice but to play the stranger’s twisted game while working out how to save himself and his kids.
The film was released on August 25th, 2023.
Previews: Trailer
Retribution contains examples of:
- Adaptational Villainy: The Big Bad in the original El desconocido was driven by revenge due to his wife being driven to suicide after the protagonist's poor stock tips. The villain here is solely motivated by greed.
- Big Bad: Anders Muller is the mysterious caller and bomber.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Anders is fully aware that he is a monster and calls out Matt for his hypocrisy.
- External Combustion: A variation. In the trailer, the bomber warns Matt that the bomb is under his car seat and will go off if he or his kids try to leave the car. He even sets off another car to show he means business.
- Faking the Dead: Anders is revealed to have done this after seemingly blowing himself up when Matt threw his gun down and decided to not go through with the bomber's Sadistic Choice, as it's actually Anders who is the bomber.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Anders is ultimately blown up by his own bomb when Matt jumps from his car hanging on the side of a bridge while Anders is reaching for his detonator.
- Ironic Nursery Tune: In the trailer, the bomber’s ring tone is “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”.
- Logo Joke: In the trailer, an overhead shot shows the Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions logos painted onto the road.
"You really do think you're different, don't you? At least I accept who I am. You just lie to yourself every day. You just let it eat away at you until your own family doesn't recognize you."
