As
radio show host and professional flâneur Erica Bain (Jodie
Foster) and her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) are walking
their
dog at Stranger's Gate in New York, they are attacked by three violent
criminals. David dies from his injuries, but Erica survives. Unhappy
with the police response and unable to deal with the psychological
trauma caused by the assault, she attempts to purchase a gun. Unwilling
to wait the month required to obtain a notice of approval, she acquires
one illegally, and is drawn into a world of vigilantism, killing random
criminals and attempting to track down the thugs who killed David.
She strikes up a friendship with Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard),
who is investigating the vigilante crimes and initially unaware of her
role in the deaths, though over the course of the film he comes to
suspect her as the killer. At the climax of the film, she finds and
confronts the thugs responsible for the murder of David. She kills two,
finding and releasing her dog in the process and struggles with the
third. Mercer arrives on the scene and has the thug go prone. Erica
then retrieves her weapon and attempts to execute the thug. Mercer
convinces Erica to lower the gun, but hands her his own in order for
her to use a legal weapon to kill the last thug.
She does and Mercer then instructs her to shoot him in the shoulder so
he can make up a story that the thugs were the ones who went on the
vigilante killing spree, until he tracked them down, the gunshot being
a result of the confrontation. He places Erica's gun in the last thug's
dead hand and Erica leaves the scene, eventually being rejoined by her
dog.
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