Edge of Darkness (2010)

Edge of Darkness is a 2010 conspiracy crime thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by William Monahan and Andrew Bovell, and starring Mel Gibson and Ray Winstone. A British-American co-production, it is based on the 1985 BBC television series of the same name, which was likewise directed by Campbell. This was Gibson's first screen lead since Signs (2002), and follows a detective investigating the murder of his activist daughter, while uncovering political conspiracies and cover-ups in the process. It was released on 29 January 2010. It received mixed reviews from critics, though Gibson's and Winstone's performances were praised, and grossed $81 million against its $80 million production budget which made it a box-office bomb.

Storyline

At South Station, Boston, homicide detective Thomas Craven picks up his daughter Emma, who comes home to visit. On the car ride and at home, Emma feels increasingly unwell, vomiting and suffering a nosebleed. When they step outside the house to go to a hospital, a masked gunman shouts "Craven!" and opens fire with a shotgun, hitting Emma. Craven attends to his daughter, who dies in his arms.

While formally identifying Emma's body, Craven takes a lock of her hair as a memento, then returns to duty to help find out who wanted to kill him. Upon discovering a .45 pistol in Emma's nightstand, he starts to suspect that Emma was the gunman's target, not him. The gun's ownership leads him to David, her boyfriend. David is fearful of Northmoor, a weapons company that employs him and Emma, and refuses to talk, only giving Craven Emma's apartment key. In Emma's apartment, Craven finds a Geiger counter and later discovers her hair is radioactive.

Craven visits Jack Bennett, Northmoor's CEO. Northmoor leases a research and development facility from the U.S. government. Bennett claims the firm is working on clean nuclear energy, but refuses to go into detail. He inquires rudely about Craven's feelings after Emma's death.

Craven repeatedly has visions of Emma's past, including short conversations, typically as the happy young child he remembers and loves. As he burns Emma's clothing in his backyard, Craven finds Jedburgh, a British "consultant". Jedburgh was tasked with tying up loose ends related to Emma, including her father. However, Jedburgh takes a liking to Craven, and lets him live.

One of Emma's activist friends, who is nearly killed by a Northmoor agent, reveals to Craven that Bennett ordered Emma's murder, as well as those of the other activists that aided her in investigating Northmoor. The company has been manufacturing nuclear weapons using foreign designs. The weapons were intended to be linked with foreign nations if they were used by the United States as dirty bombs.

Craven confronts U.S. Senator Jim Pine, who was contacted earlier by Emma, revealing that Craven knows almost everything that happened.

After examining Emma's refrigerator with the Geiger counter, Craven discovers that her milk is radioactive. Craven also falls sick. He is abducted by Northmoor agents, and wakes up handcuffed to a gurney in the Northmoor facility, but manages to escape. His health deteriorating from radiation poisoning, Craven heads to Bennett's house, and kills the Northmoor agents after forcing one of them at gunpoint to shout "Craven", finally identifying him as Emma's killer. Bennett shoots and wounds Craven, but Craven also wounds Bennett and forces some of the radioactive milk down his throat. Bennett attempts to take some pills to counteract the radioactivity, but Craven tells Bennett he deserves what's coming to him and fatally shoots him.

Jedburgh meets with the Senator and two political advisers who had hired him. They want to spin the Northmoor incident in a positive light. Jedburgh suggests that portraying it as an assassination attempt on the Senator could be an angle to keep Bennett's death out of the headlines. They are pleased with this idea until Jedburgh abruptly kills both advisers and the senator. When a young police officer nervously enters the Senator's room, Jedburgh asks the officer at gunpoint if he has children. When the officer replies yes, Jedburgh lowers his gun, allowing the officer to shoot him dead.

A young reporter for the local television station, who had spoken to Craven a few nights earlier, opens a letter from him containing DVDs recorded by Emma, revealing the conspiracy. As Craven dies in the hospital, the spirit of Emma comforts him. The ghosts of Craven and Emma are then shown walking down the corridor toward a bright, white light.

Edge of Darkness (2010)

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Storyline

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