Traditional Christmas Movies: In Bruges

It’s Christmas, and after a botched job, hit men Ray and Ken are sent to hide out in Belgium until things cool down. Ray hates the medieval city, but Ken is enchanted. Over the next few days, their experiences lead to life-changing revelations, as they spend their holidays with locals, tourists, each other… and themselves…

Christmastime means Christmas films, and here are some of my favorites! No list of traditional seasonal favorites would be complete without this tale of terrible people colliding one Christmas season within the confines of a fairy tale city in Belgium, in a story about murder, coincidence, happenstance, a chance meeting or two, some well-deserved comeuppance, and redemption.

Ray and Ken are killers for hire from Dublin, and they work for a crime boss named Harry. The problem is, their last job went badly. Sent to kill a priest in his church, Ray accidentally killed a young boy who was there too.

As a result, instead of Vienna, Harry sends them to Bruges to disappear for a while.

It’s all right, they can afford to lose a day or two.

Ooo-oooooo-ooh.

The main difference between these two killers can be summed up by the fact that when Ken hears: "Bruges is the best-preserved medieval city in Belgium” he is excited, but when Ray hears that, he wonders if he might actually be in hell.

The next couple of days are filled with sightseeing, beers, some drug-dealing thieves, an argument with some innocent Americans, a fight with a pair of Canadians who are so lippy they are understandably mistaken for Americans, a cocaine binge with a little person actor and some local sex workers, not to mention a not-insignificant amount of self-reflection, as well as confronting their many sins…

The wrench in the works comes when Harry calls Ken and orders him to kill Ray, because killing a child, even accidentally, is unforgivable. Ken is reluctant, but he and Harry have a long history, and he owes Harry, so he follows Ray to a park to do as he was ordered. Ray, however, is distraught at his killing of the boy, and is planning to kill himself. When Ken sees this, he stops Ray, even though he was about to kill the man himself. He then tells Ray that Harry wants him dead, and he puts Ray on a train to start a new life. Ken then calls Harry to explain what he did and why. Furious at the insubordination, Harry immediately sets out for Bruges for a showdown with Ken, even if that means disappointing his wife and children on Christmas. Ken is okay with this too, because he believes he has saved Ray. He believes he has given the younger man a second chance at having a life. But he also owes Harry, a debt he can never truly repay, so he’s willing to submit to whatever punishment Harry feels is necessary, even if that means his own death. Unfortunately, Ray has been brought back to the city by the police, for punching out that pair of asshole Canadians, and now the three of them are on a collision course, and the bullets will fly…

Thus saving Christmas…

I don’t want to say too much more, partially because, when spoken out loud, the things that actually happen in the plot sound like complete nonsense, but also because I don’t want to spoil the ending.

Admittedly, if I were to just tell you what the ending is, it will mean nothing to you. The film isn’t a mystery or anything, it’s just that the ending is the type of thing you will realize is about to happen while watching, and that’s part of the experience, and you should be allowed to relish it as it unfolds. This is the debut film of theater writer and director Martin McDonagh, and it is a surprising, dark, and very human comedy. The way this weird, seemingly random screenplay brings the characters and all of the meandering plot threads together, meting out the deserved justice, is simply fantastic, and it deserves to be experienced pure.

In Bruges is a story that is at once one of great sadness, of loneliness and guilt, but it is also one about the need for human connection, for absolution and redemption. It’s a story that never feels forced or pre-determined, and instead feels as if it’s being driven by the specific peculiarities of the characters. It’s also really funny, a specific kind of humor too, a balance of quirk humor mixed with dead-on observation humor. It’s all absurd and silly and coincidental, but it feels real, stemming from “real” people. And the whole thing happens in the absolutely surreally beautiful city of Bruges.

It’s fantastic.

Farrell and Gleeson are simply incredible together. This is their first pairing with Martin McDonagh too. Their second wouldn’t come for another 14 years with the also incredible The Banshees of Inisherin, which was definitely worth the wait.

Fair warning, the characters in this film are truly terrible people, and they say and do some truly terrible things, but the film doesn’t glorify this, or try to excuse it. In fact, their actions only seem to make them seem smaller. They’re people, but they’re little people, and the question of whether or not they’re even deserving of redemption, as well as their hunger to be something better than what they are, their desire to finally do something right, is a very relatable one, even if who they are isn’t, or at least, it shouldn’t be.

Big thumbs up. Great film.