- A fast-talking lawyer transforms his body and takes a vow of silence, not to be broken until he finds out who killed his wife and daughter and has his revenge.
- Spinning words into deliberately obscure, ambiguous, and unclear meanings--twisting and bending the truth to exonerate the dregs of society--the silver-tongued defence lawyer and neglectful father, Frank Valera, has made a fortune by distorting words. Dynamic, successful, and on top of his game, Valera will soon see his world crumble, when his wife, Sue, and his young daughter, Olivia, everything he holds dear, fall prey to a sadistic predator. But now, it is too late for tears and remorse, and without a break in the case, Frank decides to take a vow of silence, triggering a gradual but radical transformation. In other words, Frank is hell-bent on making those behind the hideous crime pay; however, does he have what it takes to fulfil his bloody mission of vengeance?—Nick Riganas
- A man walks into a café. Ears alert and looking around. Setting up to be watching at all angles. He rushes to the kitchen and bars the door behind him. Fighting the cook who is coughing all over the food we have a pause. There is a narrator asking, "Do I look crazy to you?" .
Rewind and new opening scene we are taken through by a monologue talking about the amount of words spoken a day, by men, by women, and by lawyers. We meet Frank Valera (Antonio Banderas) a successful lawyer who is known to find ways to get the "NG" not guilty verdict for his clients. Next scene we see his family, wife, Sue (Cristina Serafini) and young daughter, Olivia (Lillian Blankenship) getting ready for a talent show. Olivia is handed the phone to talk to her dad, telling him, "you'll love the show" as Frank tells them a lie that he is on his way down to the garage in the elevator as he sits behind his desk at the law firm. After hearing that sentence Frank decides, this is the time to make a change, to leave and see his daughter perform. As he goes to the elevator the doors close and his boss/co-worker in the other room calls him over to discuss a case. Time speeds on and goes late into the evening, making Frank even later. We see Frank in traffic as the rain pours and his daughter performs on stage.
Frank arrives at the performance hall and does not see his family. He calls them, but no response. He returns home. Calls Sue to apologize and tells her to please come home as it is getting late. Time speeds past and we see the clock tick as Frank waits for their return. Unfortunately it is the police car who approaches the door. Frank is taken to a crime scene and the voices from the police fade out in the background as he walks up to the scene. Two bodies hugging each other in a ditch. It appears to be his wife and daughter. He screams and is held back by police.
Frank shows up to the police station, asking the police chief Lustiger (Johnathon Schaech) what they are doing about the case. Lustiger is playing on his phone and is half answering Frank's questions. There is some information exchange about the area being covered by the Russian Mafia and gold fibers were found in the area. There are no leads and it appears the police force is doing nothing to advance the case. Frank gets upset with the situation and storms out angrily. In the hall he sees Officer Strode (Karl Urban) who asks him if he's ok. They exchange a word and Frank leaves the police station.
Next shot is from overhead. Many black umbrellas surround the two coffins. Rain is pouring heavily. Frank is told by his father in law that he has heard enough and doesn't want to hear from Frank ever again, "A nod is enough". Frank goes to get drunk at a bar. He gets more and more drunk and finds himself at the backroom. There is a brawling cage with two fighters in the ring. Frank watches as he downs two other shots and starts a fight with a spectator. The montage shows Frank getting into the ring and he starts to fight in the brawls, losing badly each time.
Officer Strode (Karl Urban) finds Frank and has a conversation with him in the bar. Frank talks about his past job as a lawyer and his philosophy behind defending people who don't deserve to be.
Montage of Frank getting buff and sparing in karate and jiu-jitsu gyms. We also see Frank fighting improve at the back of the bar brawls. And him growing to be silent.
Frank returns to the crime scene in a nice black car. He parks under a bridge and walks to the area where the bodies were found looking for clues. He hears a tapping in the distance and notes that if he wasn't quiet he would not have been able to hear it, marking how much he has changed from before. Frank goes towards the sound and climbs up an antenna to a shack that has someone living there. He looks around and takes a few photos as he looks out of the windows. The windows have a perfect view of the area where his family was killed.
Frank returns to his car and finds a group of 4 men trying to pry into his car. The men say Frank is in Russian territory and Frank can pay his dues by giving him his wallet and keys. The Russian man has a dog and was unclipped to release onto Frank, but the dog whimpers and backs off. The Russian man kicks the dog and chases the dog off. Frank says nothing and reaches to hand over his wallet. As he stretches out the wallet he also pulls his keys into his fist and attacks the tallest man. Fight scene occurs. Frank wins, he pulls out the photo of his wife and daughter and shows the main guy. He says nothing and searches the man's face to see if he recognizes them or is the killer - the Russian man is not. Frank takes a photo of him and knocks him out, but not before he is shot in the stomach by some other mobster. As his vision fades he is rescued by a woman.
Frank wakes up shirtless in bed with the wound covered. [The wound happens on the left side, but later we see him being patched up on his right]. He says nothing to the woman as she explains that she, Alma (Paz Vega) is an ER nurse and volunteers in the area. He got lucky that the bullet was a clean entry and exit. Frank says nothing and leaves. Outside he sees the dog. The dog follows him and they both reach home. Frank puts up the photo of the Russian mobster on his white board and crosses off the mobster's face.
The doorbell rings and it is the ER nurse. She holds out his wallet saying that he left that and she still needs to change his bandages. She tells him that he speaks in his sleep and knows he can talk. But Frank still says nothing. He gives her the memorial invitation indicating that his family has died. Alma befriends him.
Frank attempts to find the potential witness who lives in a makeshift shelter, but he loses him as he closes his door to his car and scares off the man. He goes to see Alma at her home, but she is not there. We see the next scene of Alma working in a hospital. There are a group of men who approach her saying that she needs to pay her dues. She says she is done and doesn't want to associate with them anymore. The man chokes Alma and tells her no. They leave. Frank turns the corner and shows up. As he drives Alma home later, she reveals that the shelter Frank investigated was the home of a man called "Mr. Shivers" (Clint Dyer), who works as a cook at the local diner. After he drops Alma off, Russian gang members appear and ask Alma if she is going to continue supplying drugs to them. Frank suddenly appears and incapacitates them. She explains that she worked with them for a year, stealing drugs from the hospital for them. Frank takes her to his home for her safety.
Cut to the beginning scene of Frank (we now know) fighting Shivers (we just met), dialogue saying to the audience "So am I still crazy to you now?". Frank finds Mr. Shivers working in the kitchen of a diner; they fight. Frank shows his family picture to Shivers, who witnessed the murders from his shelter. Shivers says that a police officer committed the murders. Frank sees in Shivers eyes that he recognized his family but does not see murder. Frank believes Shivers and runs out the backdoor as help arrives to the doors he blocked off. Frank then sneaks into the police station and finds that Hank Strode was assigned to patrol that particular district on the night of the murders.
After several days of following Strode and switching cars following him, Frank maps out Strode's routine. He catches that Strode has a spare key behind a planter and enters Strode's house and finds a police jacket with gold fibers coming loose from an embroidered sleeve badge. As he looks further he sees a fake door, in the cubby-hole Frank also finds a bag that contains magazines with Frank on the cover, news articles about Strode's 12-year-old daughter's murder, and Frank's legal defense of the suspect, who was freed on a technicality. Frank sees a digital camera and turns it on. Inside are photos of Frank at the funeral and his family's birthday party. Frank realizes the gravity of the situation and leaves a message on Strode's car telling him to meet at the warehouse at 11 pm to get back the camera.
As Strode arrives, a fight ensues, leaving both injured. Strode wanted Frank to suffer for freeing the suspect, and he wanted Frank to know what Strode felt. Frank overcomes his desire to kill him, remembering Aurelius' quote, "The best revenge is to be unlike your enemy," and he then knocks Strode out.
Later, we see news coverage of Strode's trial and conviction. The police department says that a bad cop put away is best. Frank and Alma visit the graves of his wife and daughter, where Frank finally ends his vow of silence by saying "I love you" to his family's graves.
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