Taglines: All guns. No control.
Two Irish-American brothers, the heroin addicted Stevo (Sam Riley) and his older brother Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) are driving a truck on the way to meet with some guys. Stevo tells Bernie about a fight he got into with another guy the previous night due to an altercation with the other guy’s cousin. Waiting for them outside of a warehouse are IRA guys Chris (Cillian Murphy), Frank (Michael Smiley), and their American mediator Justine (Brie Larson). Before the brothers show up, Chris asks Justine is she’s FBI. She says she’s “IIFM” – “in it for myself.”
The brothers arrive and meet with Chris and Frank while Justine waits in the car. They are all met by Ord (Armie Hammer), a rep for the arms dealer they are about to do business with. Ord makes some smart-ass comments to the other guys before bringing them inside the warehouse.
The buyers meet with the dealer, a suave South African named Vernon (Sharlto Copley), and his right-hand man Martin (Babou Ceesay). They are joined by other associates, Harry (Jack Reynor) and Gordon (Noah Taylor). Vernon greets Justine and compliments her before saying she put on weight. He then presents Chris with assault rifles. Chris points out that the order was incorrect, as he ordered M-16’s but received AR-17’s. Vernon is not happy with how this is going, but Chris and Frank decide to take the weapons anyway and hand over their money in a briefcase. As the transaction happens, Chris tries to invite Justine out to dinner in front of the other guys. Justine appears disinterested in the offer.
Stevo recognizes Harry as the guy who beat him up the previous night. He tries to avoid Harry, but Harry spots Stevo and immediately flips out. He tells everyone that Stevo tried to coerce Harry’s cousin into a sexual act and then smashed a bottle over her face when she refused, prompting Harry to react violently. Frank takes Stevo aside and starts smacking him for what he did and then demands that he apologize to Harry. Stevo starts to apologize but then starts mocking Harry’s cousin. Harry goes to his car and takes out a gun, which he uses to shoot Stevo in the shoulder. The groups then run in opposite directions and everyone begins pulling out guns and begins shooting at each other. Martin gets grazed by a bullet on his head and passes out, leaving the briefcase unsecured.
In the midst of the gunfire, two snipers, Jimmy (Mark Monero) and Howie (Patrick Bergin), begin shooting at the buyers, although nobody knows where the extra gunfire is coming from. Jimmy gets shot and slowly dies while Bernie gets up and gets shot in the back by Vernon until he dies. Stevo breaks down and rushes to his brother’s side, swearing vengeance on his killer. Howie then speaks up, and Ord recognizes his voice. Before Howie can tell Ord who sent him, he gets shot dead by someone in the warehouse.
Vernon still wants to try and nab the briefcase. Chris requests that Vernon lay his guys off Justine. She tries to make her way to the briefcase, but she is being followed by Gordon. Justine also ends up getting shot in the leg by Harry and she ends up shooting him back in retaliation.
The guys continue to shoot at each other. Somewhere in the warehouse, a phone starts ringing. Frank tries to go after the phone so he can call for backup. Vernon follows him as the shooting continues. Gordon attempts to kill Justine, but she manages to take him down first. Justine then slowly passes out from blood loss.
Frank and Vernon try to make it up to the room with the phone. Vernon starts going after Frank. Frank locks himself in a room and pours kerosene on the floor and making it spill out. As Vernon gets close, Frank ignites the fluid and sets Vernon on fire. Vernon manages to extinguish the flames and kill Frank.
As the shooting continues, Martin manages to regain consciousness. It turns out Jimmy and Howie were sent by him to steal the money on their own. Martin engages in the shootout, but he soon dies from his earlier head wound.
Free Fire is a 2016 British action-comedy film directed by Ben Wheatley, from a screenplay by Wheatley and Amy Jump. It stars Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley and Noah Taylor.
The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2016.[4] The film also served as the closer of the 2016 BFI London Film Festival on 16 October 2016.[5] The film was released in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2017 by StudioCanal UK, and in the United States on 21 April 2017 by A24.
Free Fire (2017)
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Enzo Cilenti, Brie Larson, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Sara Dee, Noah Taylor, Patrick Bergin, Jack Reynor, Mark Monero
Screenplay by: Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley
Production Design by: Paki Smith
Cinematography by: Laurie Rose
Film Editing by: Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley
Costume Design by: Emma Fryer
Set Decoration by: Liz Griffiths
Art Direction by: Paul Frost, Nigel Pollock
Music by: Geoff Barrow, Ben Salisbury
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual references and drug use.
Oizüdisuüeo sl: A24 Films, StudioCanal UK
Release Date: March 17, 2017
