Edge of Darkness (2010)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A detective investigates the murder of his activist daughter while uncovering a web of political conspiracies and cover-ups.
The story
Boston homicide detective Thomas Craven's life is shattered when his daughter, Emma, is killed in a targeted shooting. While investigating the crime, Craven discovers that his daughter was not a random target but was involved in a dangerous underground movement. As he begins to trace the origins of the weapons used and the motives behind the attack, he finds himself entangled in a massive conspiracy involving a private weapons company and government secrets. Craven must navigate a web of lies and dangerous figures to uncover the truth about his daughter's death and the clandestine activities of the organization she was involved with.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After his daughter Emma is killed by a masked gunman, Detective Thomas Craven discovers she was involved with a conspiracy involving a weapons company called Northmoor. He finds her apartment contains radioactive materials and a Geiger counter. He meets Jedburgh, a 'private consultant' tasked with covering up the truth, who becomes an uneasy ally. Craven learns that Northmoor was manufacturing nuclear weapons using foreign designs. After being abducted and suffering from radiation poisoning, Craven infiltrates the Northmoor facility and eventually confronts the CEO, Jack Bennett. Craven forces Bennett to drink radioactive milk before killing him. Meanwhile, Jedburgh meets with government officials to spin the events as an assassination attempt. In a moment of defiance, Jedburgh kills the officials and the Senator. The film ends with a reporter finding Emma's recorded evidence of the conspiracy as Craven dies in the hospital, finding peace in her spirit.
- First release year
- 2010
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Martin Campbell
- Writers
- William Monahan · writer; Andrew Bovell · writer
- Cast and characters
- Mel Gibson · Craven; Ray Winstone · Jedburgh; Danny Huston · Jack Bennett; Bojana Novakovic · Emma Craven; Shawn Roberts · Burnham; David Aaron Baker · Millroy; Jay O. Sanders · Whitehouse; Denis O'Hare · Moore
- Genres
- crime thriller; political thriller; action drama
- Themes
- conspiracy; revenge; government corruption; nuclear weapons
- Tone and mood
- intense; brutally effective
- Premise and plot tags
- investigation; political thriller; action; mystery
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1985 BBC television series
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, though the performances of Mel Gibson and Ray Winstone were praised.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 54% · scale: percentage · review count: 215; Metacritic · score: 55 · scale: 100 · review count: 34; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- Robert De Niro was originally cast as Jedburgh but left the project due to creative differences.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…