Retribution (2023)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A father must navigate a terrifying series of demands from a mysterious caller while trapped in a car rigged with a bomb.
The story
Matt Turner, a financier living in Berlin, receives a chilling phone call from an unknown voice claiming there is a bomb under his car seat. The caller, who has already armed the device, threatens to detonate it if Matt seeks help or exits the vehicle. Forced to follow the anonymous instructions to keep his wife and two children safe, Matt is led through a series of high-stakes demands. The situation escalates as the bomber forces Matt to witness a nearby explosion and demands the retrieval of a large sum of money, putting Matt's life and his family's safety in immediate jeopardy.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Matt Turner, a financier in Berlin, is trapped in his car by a bomber who has armed a device under his seat. The caller forces Matt to watch a client, Sylvain, die in an explosion and demands that Matt's wife, Heather, retrieve €50,000 to deliver to a man in a blue suit. After the police arrest the man, the caller reveals that Matt and his boss, Anders Muller, have a €208 million slush fund in a Dubai account. The bomber forces Matt to meet Anders at a power plant and order him to liquidate the account. When Matt refuses to kill Anders with a revolver, Anders's car explodes, injuring Matt's daughter, Emily. After the police and Europol agent Angela Brickmann arrive, the bomb squad rescues Matt's children. Matt eventually evades the police to confront the caller. The caller is revealed to be Anders, who embezzled the money and intended to frame Matt. In a final confrontation, Matt deliberately crashes his car off a bridge and falls into the river, allowing the bomb to kill Anders. The news later reports that Matt cooperated with Europol to resolve the incident.
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- France; Germany; Spain; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Nimród Antal
- Writers
- Chris Salmanpour · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Liam Neeson · Matt Turner; Noma Dumezweni · Angela Brickmann; Lilly Aspell · Emily Turner; Jack Champion · Zach Turner; Embeth Davidtz · Heather Turner; Matthew Modine · Anders Muller; Arian Moayed · Sylvain
- Genres
- action; thriller
- Themes
- fatherhood; terrorism; betrayal
- Tone and mood
- suspenseful; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- action; thriller; remake; heist; terrorism
- Source material / true-story basis
- El desconocido (2015)
- Reception
- The film received mixed or average reviews from critics, with a Metacritic score of 43. Audiences gave it a 'C' grade on CinemaScore, while PostTrak reported a 54% positive score. Critics noted the suspense and emotion despite a flatly functional script.
- Reported review scores
- CinemaScore · score: C · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 54%
- Production trivia
- Liam Neeson was confirmed to star in the film in November 2020.; The film was shot mainly at Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam and in the streets of Berlin.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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