He Knows My Name

筋書き

This film follows three timelines: the pasts of each main character, and their shared present in real time.

Two men-one older, one younger-sit in a remote safe house, awaiting their uncertain future. As they smoke their last cigarette, a conversation about women prompts reflection.

Flashback: The younger man stands with an engagement ring, watching his ex-fiancée beside an unconscious, bloodied man.

Present: The older man reveals he's been married for 12 years. They discuss music and art, specifically Caravaggio, which leads to the question: "What's the correlation between character and vocation?" The conversation deepens. The older man reveals he has two children. Pressed for his name, he stays silent. To which the younger man offers his own-

Flashback - "Carmichael Grady Jr."

Michael sits outside watching an apartment. At a nearby liquor store, a robbery unfolds—he hides instead of intervening. He follows a couple across the night: to dinner, a movie, a bar. Observing their growing intimacy, he pays their tab and returns to wait outside the apartment. As they go upstairs, police arrive at the liquor store. Undeterred, Michael follows the couple and violently attacks the man with a liquor bottle. He's arrested by responding officers.

Present: The older man finally offers his name-

Flashback - "Neil Renkin"

Neil drops off his kids at school. At a Mexican fruit stand, he receives keys and an address. After hours of increasingly paranoid travel through the desert, he arrives in Los Ojos, a remote strip club across the border. There, he exchanges the van for a red duffel bag containing cash, clothes, and new keys. He meets a woman named Demiana. She gives him a card with a number and a chance at a new life. Back home, Neil writes a goodbye note on his son's old homework, leaves the bag and letter in the car, and enters a waiting vehicle.

Neil arrives at the safe house, greeted by Hayden Grant, who informs him another deserter (Grady) is also staying there.Their first night is silent. A rainstorm the next day breaks the tension. They talk and drink. A heated exchange prompts Neil to find a kitchen knife for protection. Later, they play blackjack and bond over stories about their fathers.

Michael retrieves a hidden gun from the bathroom.

Present: Over coffee, the men share dark secrets. Neil admits involvement in cartel trafficking. Michael mistakenly outs himself as an undercover detective-

Flashback: Police Lieutenant Frank Murrow gives Michael a choice between being a felon or going undercover.

Present: tension rises to a boiling point. Neil dies by Michael’s gun, but not before stabbing Michael in the ribs. Michael is then killed by members of the cartel that he mistakes for his own backup.