A couple visits Mexico to scout a new location for their furniture manufacturing business, and hit a cop with their car on the way back stateside. Realizing that if they report it they could land in a Mexican jail (guilty until proven innocent), they clean up the car and return home. A few days later, an insistent man shows up wanting a job -- and insinuating that he saw something in Mexico that he would not want to report -- the couple must make a decision about how far they will allow themselves to be blackmailed.
Acting
Rutger Hauer's menacing politeness.
Direction
Murphy squeezes dread from sunny suburbs.
Writing
Every line of blackmail lands perfectly.
Director
Geoff Murphy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Geoff Murphy directed cult classic Utu (1983) before Hollywood thrillers.
Embodies 90s economic anxiety: manufacturing jobs fleeing, Mexican labor exploitation, suburban couples cracking.
MX
US
