Paul is just your average hospital nurse, working faithfully to support his wife, Taryn, as the couple prepares for the arrival of their first child.
On an otherwise average night shift, one of Paul’s patients is a mercenary named Abe, a guy who’s just been accused of murdering a government official. But Abe isn’t just any mercenary. He’s the kind of guy who uncovers corrupt cops. And he’s on their hit list.
Paul doesn’t know that. In fact, Paul doesn’t know anything about Abe until Paul’s pregnant wife is captured by Abe’s brother, Mateo, and held for ransom. Paul is given a choice: Remove Abe from the hospital and bring him to a hidden location, or his wife dies.
Bewildered and panicked, Paul puts his life on the line to protect his wife. And in the space of a few hours, what started as an average night at work becomes a life-or-death battle between mercenaries and corrupt cops—with Paul caught in the crossfire between them.
Paul and his wife, Taryn, are a loving couple who cherish their marriage. Paul makes sure that pregnant Taryn is well cared for and loved. This becomes even more evident as Paul goes to great lengths to rescue his wife. We also see him care for a former patient who is homeless.
Mateo and Abe, although mercenaries, are brothers who deeply love each other. They encourage, love and support one another, giving the other hope when life seems hopeless.
A man wears a large cross.
A man jokes about having sex and raising eight children with different women. A married couple kisses and flirts, and a husband playfully smacks his wife’s rear.
Mateo and Abe kill and physically maim corrupt police officials, shooting them in the head at point blank range, stomach and other body parts. Corrupt police officers behave similarly, attempting to cover up their violent work.
A woman shoots two men in the head, stomach and neck, and blood splatters in all directions. Later, the same woman is shot multiple times. The camera pans in on her bloodied face as she dies. A few men engage in hand-to-hand combat, punching one another in the stomach, face and chest. A man is knocked unconscious. A pregnant woman and her husband are kidnaped and held at gun point.
A nurse lists the causes of injury to various patients, including a gang shooting. Threats are uttered, a man is hit by a car and a woman is nearly choked to death. Several characters drive recklessly, resulting in crashes.
A man admits that he, his brother and mother were abused by their father as children. We hear that their mother eventually shot and killed the abusive father, and the boys were left orphaned.
A nurse says he formerly treated a patient with a “self-inflicted stab wound.” Via a text message, a man threatens to gouge out someone’s eyes and to stab him, too. A guy is kicked in the genitals. A police car is set on fire with a Molotov cocktail.
God’s name is twice paired with “d–mit,” and Jesus’ name is misused four times. The f-word is heard more than 100 times and is texted twice. The s-word is uttered close to 40 times. Other profanity includes multiple utterances each of “a–,” “b–ch,” “p-ssy,” “n-gga,” “b-lls” and “d–k.”
A pawn shop manager smokes marijuana in a shop laden with drug paraphernalia. Men smoke cigarettes. Abe and Mateo work with a notorious drug dealer.
A group of police officers and government officials are accused of shady dealings. A police officer makes a rude comment. A man steals medical supplies. Men and woman alike lie and yell. A man vomits.
This TV-MA film is about as formulaic as they come: corrupt officials? Check. Wife kidnapped? Of course. A high-speed, action-packed chase at the end? What else.
In the last few years, Netflix has produced some original, buzz-worthy movies. This isn’t one of them.
Point Blank features few heart-warming moments in its shoot-and-swear by numbers approach to storytelling. The acting talents of stars Anthony Mackie and Marcia Gay Harden (among others) are simply wasted in a clichéd movie that dumps buckets of blood, profanity and deceit on unsuspecting Netflix subscribers’ heads.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
