Out of the Furnace

Plot synopsis:
After getting off work at a North Braddock, Pennsylvania, steel mill, Russell Baze catches his brother Rodney at a horse racing simulcast, where Rodney had just bet on a losing horse. Rodney reveals John Petty loaned the money to him. Petty owns a bar and runs several illegal games. Russell visits Petty, pays off some of Rodney's debt, and promises to pay Petty the rest with his next paycheck if Rodney has not yet paid it off. Driving home intoxicated, Russell hits another car, killing its occupants, including a little boy. He is incarcerated for vehicular manslaughter. While in prison he is informed that his ailing father has died and his girlfriend Lena has left him for the small town police chief, Wesley Barnes. Upon his release from prison, Russell returns home and resumes his job at the mill.
The same day, Rodney participates in an illegal bare-knuckle prizefight. Rodney was supposed to take a "dive" for Petty as a way to repay some of the gambling debt he owes Petty, but during the fight, Rodney becomes enraged against his opponent and wins the fight. The next morning, Russell finds Rodney's bloodied knuckle tapes in the trash and confronts him about it. Russell wants him to work in the mill, but Rodney, a four-tour Iraq war veteran, is too mentally scarred to take a regular job.
Rodney tells Petty that these "nickel and dime" fights will never earn him enough money to pay Petty back. Rodney then insists that Petty call and organize a more lucrative fight. Petty reluctantly arranges a fight with Harlan DeGroat, a sociopathic drug dealer from rural New Jersey to whom Petty owes a lot of money. Russell wants Lena back, but she is pregnant with Wesley's baby. Russell unsuccessfully feigns happiness to Lena, saying she will be a great mom, but both know that her pregnancy makes their getting back together an impossibility.
Rodney is told he must purposely lose the fight in New Jersey. When DeGroat seeks assurances Rodney will lose, Petty promises he will. Rodney briefly knocks out his opponent, but when hearing Petty pleading with him, Rodney helps the fighter get up, takes a dive, and lets the man pummel his face into a bloody mess. After the fight, DeGroat asks for the rest of his money, but Petty reminds DeGroat they had agreed in advance that this fight made them even, and DeGroat drops the subject. While driving back home, DeGroat and his men ambush Petty and Rodney. DeGroat first shoots and kills Petty, has Rodney dragged into the woods, and kills him, too. Unknown to anyone, Petty had accidentally dialed his cell phone, which fell onto the car seat and connected to his bartender Dan's voicemail while recording DeGroat as clear evidence of his murdering Petty.
That night, Russell finds a letter from Rodney, stating this will be his last fight and he wants to work with Russell at the mill. Wesley informs Russell about Rodney's disappearance, and Russell and his uncle "Red" set off to find him. In DeGroat's town, Russell and Red are stopped by the sheriff, who informs them that DeGroat's men would kill them if they knew why the two were in town, and, as a favor to Sheriff Wesley, he will escort them to the state line rather than searching and arresting them for illegally carrying concealed weapons.
Upon returning to the mill, Wesley visits Russell and confirms Rodney's death. Russell goes to Petty's office, finds a phone number for DeGroat, and calls him without identifying himself, enticing him to come collect Petty's debt. At the bar, Russell sabotages DeGroat's van to prevent his escape and confronts him. DeGroat escapes to a nearby, shutdown mill, where Russell shoots him in the thigh. Russell then follows DeGroat to a field outside the mill as he hobbles off and shoots him in the back. Russell informs DeGroat that he is Rodney's brother, as Wesley approaches the field in a squad car. Wesley pleads for Russell to put down his gun, but Russell proceeds to carefully aim his hunting rifle and shoots DeGroat in the head. The film cuts to Russell sitting at home at the dining table and fades to black.

Tags: neo noir, murder, violence, flashback, melodrama, revenge

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