In Bruges (2008)

In his directorial debut, Martin McDonagh brings us In Bruges (2008), a black comedy-drama crime thriller. Following orders, inexperienced hitman Ray unintentionally shoots a young boy instead of his target, a priest during confession. Along with his mentor Ken, Ray travels to Bruges as instructed by their employer Harry, to wait for further instructions. While Ken finds the city enchanting and peaceful, Ray is unimpressed and unhappy. However, their boredom is momentarily interrupted when they come across a movie being filmed with a dwarf actor. This entertains Ray greatly. During his time in Bruges, Ray also meets Chloë – a local drug dealer who is working as a production assistant. Their encounter leads to dinner at a restaurant where Ray ends up getting into an altercation with a Canadian couple (whom he mistakes for Americans) resulting in him throwing punches.

Later on, Chloë takes Ray to her apartment but things take an unexpected turn when her ex-boyfriend Eirik shows up and threatens Ray with a handgun. With ease, Ray disarms the petty criminal and shoots off a round from the firearm, which he had loaded with blanks, directly into Eirik’s face. The shot blinds him in one eye. Chloë confesses that she and Eirik frequently steal from tourists but adamantly asserts that she had made it clear to Eirik that Ray was off-limits. As Chloë drives Eirik to the hospital, Ray slips the gun into his pocket and also helps himself to some live ammunition and some of Chloë’s stash of drugs. He and his acquaintance Ken spend a wild night with the dwarf actor, Jimmy, who indulges in cocaine and raves about an upcoming war between people of different races. Later, Harry contacts Ken and orders him to take out Ray.