Farid In ‘Deliver Me’ Explained: Can Farid Live With The False Testimony?

In a society where little boys behave like monsters, what does an honest cop do to save the day? Deliver Me, based on the bestselling novel by Malin Persson Giolito, is about two best friends losing their lives when they get themselves into a gang.  Farid Ayad, a Stockholm cop, does everything in his power to protect the town from the nasty gang violence. 

Spoilers Ahead


How does Farid try to help Bilal?

Bilal gets shot by his best friend Douglas when he tries to get his life together and get away from the gang business. Before Bilal’s demise, Farid knew Bilal worked for Mehdi, a local gang leader. Farid reached out to Bilal and his mother, Leila, to guarantee their safety. When Farid caught Bilal and Douglas the first time for setting fire to a stolen car, it was he who made Bilal believe that he could have a better life. Bilal always had Farid by his side, and he did try to do the right thing and get out of the city. When Farid discovers Bilal has been shot, he makes it his utmost priority to find the person who’s responsible for this. 


Does Farid successfully get a confession out of Douglas? 

Farid put himself on the case as soon as he found out about Bilal. He reaches out to take Douglas in, and the evidence clearly points towards  it being Douglas who pulled the trigger. Douglas hesitates to answer any question Farid asks him. When Farid puts Douglas in the interrogation room, in front of a camera, Douglas is confident that he’s a child and Farid and his law can’t get him. Farid is patient and doesn’t lose hope in Douglas, and he eventually manages to get the truth out of him. When Farid tells Douglas that Bilal is dead in the hospital, Douglas breaks and reveals that it was Mehdi who ordered him to kill Bilal. 


How does Farid behave with Bilal’s family?

Farid is possibly the sweetest and most endearing cop in all of Stockholm. While he gets ridiculed by Sebastian for his nice behavior, Farid doesn’t give up on a family that has just lost its eldest son. Leila doesn’t cooperate with the police at all, but Farid keeps his patience and pacifies Leila. Leila puts her trust in Farid and tells him that she had to give everything she had to Mehdi. Mehdi wasn’t happy, and he asked for more money in exchange for Bilal’s freedom. Farid offers witness protection to Leila and her kids when he gets to know that Tusse, Leila’s youngest son, could be a credible witness to prosecute Mehdi. 


What does Farid do when Douglas dies?

Douglas has violated a lot of people under the influence of drugs, and Sudden’s daughter was one of them. When Bilal was still alive, Douglas entered Sudden’s store while they were closed, and his daughter was the only one present. When she told Douglas they’re closed, Douglas snapped and pushed her to the ground, and he grabbed her by the hair while abusing her. Billy takes Douglas out before he could create a further mess, and Sudden came back to see his daughter in a traumatized state. Douglas eventually dies when he revisits Sudden’s store months later, and Sudden’s baseball bat lands right on his skull. Farid loses his calm and visits Mehdi to beat him up, and he can’t understand how Mehdi can use 14-year-olds to do his dirty work. Farid sees a little kid looking for Mehdi when he is beating Mehdi up, and he realizes how right he is for doing what he did. Farid gets hellbent on putting Mehdi behind bars, as a beating isn’t enough for the crimes he’s committed. 


How does Farid motivate Tusse to reveal the truth?

Farid figures that the only way he can pin Mehdi down for Bilal’s murder is if he connects the murder weapon back to Mehdi. Now, everyone knows the gun belongs to Mehdi, but there was no credible witness or evidence to prove that. When Tusse gets threatened by Mehdi’s men in school, Farid understands that little Tusse knows something crucial. He takes Tusse on a drive and tells him how Bilal behaved the same as him when Farid took him under his guidance. Farid makes Tusse understand that nobody can face their problems alone, and he shouldn’t try to do so either. At Bilal’s funeral, Tusse finally gathers enough courage and tells Farid that it was Mehdi who took Bilal and Douglas out to teach them how to shoot. Tusse was there, pretty much involuntarily, and the police discovered bullet casings where Tusse claimed he and his brother were taken. 


Can Farid live with the false testimony? 

Tusse thinks of backing out of the testimony since he knows it was him who gave the gun to Bilal. Tusse originally took the gun when he saw Bilal and Douglas hiding it, and he gave it back when he sensed his brother was in deep trouble. The gun eventually fell into the hands of Douglas, who killed Bilal. Tusse panics, thinking he wouldn’t be able to lie, but Leila convinces him that punishing Mehdi for his sins is the right thing to do. Tusse testifies in court and lies about how Mehdi gave the gun to Douglas and ordered the hit on Bilal. Farid knows Tusse isn’t being truthful, but he decides to keep quiet. Farid meets with his colleague Lana to tell her about how the testimony went. Farid tries to relieve the guilt from his conscience, but Lana is disappointed in him. Farid thought he’d get validation from Lana for putting Mehdi away for good. Lana refuses to give Farid what he wants and clearly states that this is on Farid. 

Farid is mostly a man of morals and principles who shows empathy for the helpless and does things in the right way. In his desperate pursuit of Mehdi, he allows something that an officer of the law shouldn’t ever advocate for. Farid goes against his own morals when he tries to bring Mehdi down, and there’s every chance that it’s enough to put an end to Mehdi’s crimes. But even winning doesn’t quite feel right when you get it through dishonest means, and Farid finds himself burdened with that guilt. 


Aniket Mukherjee
Aniket Mukherjee
Aniket is a literature student pursuing his master's degree while trying to comprehend Joyce and Pound. When his head is not shoved in books, he finds solace in cinema and his heart beats for poetry, football, and Adam Sandler in times.


 

 

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