Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A police chief, about to retire, pledges to help a woman find her daughter's killer.
Sean Penn's measured, atmospheric thriller is distinguished by Jack Nicholson's restrained and haunting performance as the obsessive detective—one of his finest. The plot subverts genre expectations at every turn, building dread through ambiguity rather than resolution. The ending is genuinely audacious and bleak, refusing conventional closure in a way that lingers. Cinematography is competent but not exceptional. Novelty is above average for a crime thriller but not wholly singular.