Peppermint

Peppermint is a 2018 vigilante action thriller film directed by Pierre Morel and starring Jennifer Garner. Also featuring John Ortiz, John Gallagher Jr., Juan Pablo Raba, and Tyson Ritter, the plot follows a mother who sets out for revenge against the cartel that killed her husband and daughter. The film was released in the United States on September 7, 2018. It grossed over $53 million worldwide and received generally negative reviews from critics, although Garner's performance was praised.
==Plot==
In the opening scene, a guerrilla woman repeatedly strangles a man in a car before shooting him in the head.
Five years ago, Riley North was a wife and mother working as a banker in Los Angeles, struggling to make ends meet. Her husband, Chris, owned a failing mechanic shop. They had a ten-year-old daughter, Carly. Chris's friend tried to talk him into robbing Diego Garcia, a powerful drug lord. Chris turned him down, but Diego had already discovered his involvement and ordered his men to make an example of him. Riley and Chris took Carly out to a carnival for her birthday, since no one showed up to her party due to the intervention of a difficult suburban mom named Peg. As the family walked to the car, three men gunned down Riley's husband and daughter in a drive-by shooting. She was badly wounded but survived.
Despite her injuries, Riley is able to positively identify the three perpetrators. A senior Detective named Beltran warns his younger partner Carmichael about a previous detective who was murdered after trying to make a case against Diego, and comments him "let what's going to happen... happen." Prior to the preliminary hearing, Riley is visited by Henderson, the perpetrators' lawyer. Henderson unsuccessfully tries to bribe her with black money but uses her anti-psychotic medication to paint her as an unreliable witness. Judge Stevens, secretly on the cartel's payroll, declares there is insufficient evidence to allow the perpetrators to stand trial and dismisses the case, while the prosecutor does nothing. Outraged, Riley tries to attack her family's killers, but is subdued and ordered to be held at a psychiatric ward. En route, she escapes and vanishes.
In the present, Beltran and Carmichael arrive at the carnival and found the perpetrators hanging from a Ferris wheel, executed by Riley. The killings attract the attention of FBI agent Lisa Inman. She reveals that before vanishing five years earlier, Riley robbed the bank where she worked and stayed under the radar while undergoing intensive training. Recently returned, Riley robbed a gun store to obtain specific assault rifles and ammunition. She subdues the now-retired Judge Stevens by tying him up, nailing his hands to a table, and wrapping him in explosive cord before obliterating him with a remote-controlled bomb for his misdeeds, having already killed Henderson and the prosecution lawyers involved. Inman, Carmichael, and Beltran decide to inform the media about Riley, sparking a debate between those who see her as a hero and those who see her as a criminal.
After threatening a man to stop drinking and be more caring to his son, Riley heads to a piñata shop that is a front for Diego's money laundering, killing most of his men. Diego realized that Riley is responsible for his recent shipments going missing, and resolves to kill her. Inman had analysis determine that Riley could have been living on Skid Row for the past three months, owing to recent changes to crime patterns in the area. She finds Riley's van, which is filled with the stolen weapons, and learns that the people there see Riley as their guardian angel for keeping them safe.
Riley survives a trap set by Diego, hijacks a car, and follows his henchmen to Diego's manor, killing more of his associates. When Diego's young daughter interrupts her as she confronts Diego, Riley hesitates, which allows Diego to wound her and escape. While the police investigate Riley's action scenes, Beltran finds out from Detective Barker that Carmichael been acting on his own accord. Inman called Carmichael to Skid Row to wait for Riley. She mentions the rumor that somebody is tipping off Diego within the police department. Carmichael, who happens to be that mole, reluctantly shot Inman and notifies Diego of Riley's likely destination. Riley shows up at Peg's house, punches her old non-friend unconscious, has a nasty conversation (noticing Peg had gotten divorced) and leaves Peg tied up while she steals Peg's SUV and drives away.
Riley returns to Skid Row, which is swarming with Diego's men. She collapses from overworking herself. Carly's spirit awakens her mother. Riley manages to kill several thugs, and also uncovers Inman's corpse. Using Inman's smartphone, she contacts the media and reveals her location, inviting both the media and the LAPD. She confronts Diego when he threatens a homeless kid, stalling him long enough for the police to arrive. Diego, thinking Carmichael betrayed him, shoots and kills him and runs, only to be beaten down by Riley. Beltran comes and demands Riley to stand down and assure her that Diego will be arrested and rot in prison with no hope of bribing his way out, but Riley doesn't trust him. Surrounded by police with no hope of escape and underestimating Riley's resolve to end his life, Diego laughs maniacally at her, telling her that she will spend more time in prison than him, only for Riley to reply he is "not going to prison" and shoot Diego, splattering most of his head on the wall behind him, avenging her entire family. She is shot by the police, but Beltran orders them to cease fire; Riley once again escape.
Beltran finds Riley critically wounded at her family's gravestone. He brings her to the hospital, despite Riley's expressed desire to die at the family grave-site. Beltran later visits her while she's in police custody at a hospital, telling her that there are many who agree with what she did, and slips her the key to her handcuffs, allowing Riley to flee.
== Theatrical Trailer ==
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Category:2018 films
Category:2018 in film
Category:Films with asian companies and co-production
Category:Articles in need of a picture