Ryuhei Kitamura’s recently released bloody thriller “The Price We Pay” is violent and tense, but the only thing it lacks is a compelling narrative. The plot revolves around Grace (Gigi Zumbado), a young woman who succumbs to circumstances and becomes an accomplice to some mobsters. Grace and some mobsters seek refuge in a mysterious house, where they confront a terrible truth. Let’s see what they discover in the house that might lead to a massacre.
Spoilers Ahead
‘The Price We Pay’ Plot Summary: What Happens In The Film?
The opening scene of “The Price We Pay” shows a prostitute being thrown out of a car by the driver. Prior to being abandoned in the middle of nowhere, she snatched the driver’s moneybag and entered a gas station bathroom. As soon as she exited the toilet, a dart was shot at her, knocking her out cold. The stranger abducted the lady, and her fate will be revealed as the story progresses. The scene returns to a pawn shop where Grace has come to visit the owner and given him a necklace because she was unable to pay her house rent. The proprietor was about to assault her when some criminals took over the store and started shooting. While the thieves were killing the cashier, Grace locked herself inside a locker. She attempted to flee, but Cody (Stephen Dorff), one of the robbers, caught her. The group’s fourth member abandoned them in the meanwhile and took off with their van. Alex’s brother Shane was shot in the leg and was unable to stand. Cody took Grace hostage and fled the scene using her car. Considering Grace was scared for her life, she felt compelled to assist the robbers. However, her car experienced a malfunction on the way and broke down in the middle of nowhere. Cody prevented Alex (Emile Hirsch) who was finding an opportunity to get rid of Grace by killing her. They managed to find a cottage nearby and decided to spend the night there. Cody and Alex were discussing their boss, who had ordered them to rob the store, but their boss’ identity was never made explicit in the film.
Cody, on the other hand, accompanied by Grace, entered the cottage and discovered a young boy named Danny (Tyler Sanders). They asked Danny if they could spend some time at his house, but he declined. He didn’t want them to stay for even a second. He stated that his grandfather would return home soon. However, Danny agreed to let them stay after Grace insisted. Shane was escorted inside the house by Cody and Grace. They lingered there for a while, watching TV, where the news of their heist had been broadcast. Alex was suspicious of Grace’s presence in their gang and wanted to kill her, but Cody refused because keeping her around was the only way the police wouldn’t hurt them. Cody described her as leverage. Cody’s background as an army medic allowed him to extract the bullet from Shane’s leg. But Cody’s motivation for leaving the army and joining a life of crime wasn’t made clear in “The Price We Pay.” Alex was furious since he couldn’t kill Grace, so he went outside to kill the young boy and have some terrible fun. He caught Danny and planned to play with his fear of death, but Danny’s grandfather (Vernon Wells) had arrived near their farm in the meantime. Cody and Grace were keeping an eye on them when they noticed Danny’s grandfather wasn’t alone, as a huge lady got out of the car and grabbed a massive sack. They brought the sack inside their farm, and Cody realized it had to be a person inside. The story thereafter revolved around what Danny’s grandfather was up to. Was he the assassin who abducted the prostitute at the start of the film? Let’s have a discussion about it.
Who Was The Kidnapper At The Beginning Of The Film?
Danny was terrified after Alex pointed his gun at him. Danny distracted him and ran away from the barn, only to discover that his grandfather had arrived. Seeing Danny was terrified, his grandfather was enraged and went in search of the intruders who had broken into his home. While Cody was leaving the room to search for Alex, he was shot by Danny’s grandfather with those darts, proving that Danny’s grandfather was the kidnapper of that prostitute. The lady who took the sack inside went outside to assist the old man. The sack was untied, and the prostitute inside emerged. She regained consciousness and was confronted by Alex, who shot her to death. Meanwhile, Alex was shot by the dart arrows when he went outside. Danny’s grandfather did not even spare Grace, despite Danny telling him not to shoot her.
Alex and Shane opened their eyes on the operating table, where Alex discovered his brother’s chest had been cut open and Danny’s grandpa, who was a doctor, was operating on him without anesthesia. The doctor told Alex a story from his past while cutting Shane’s heart out in front of his brother. Grandpa, or the doctor, told his story about his daughter being brutally murdered by her husband. The husband was cruel to women and his own children, so he tracked him down and murdered him to exact his vengeance. However, he shared his home with his infant grandson Danny and his nine-year-old granddaughter ever since he killed their father. The big lady who was his partner-in-crime could be the granddaughter who was raised in her grandfather’s image. Though Danny’s grandfather was distraught over his daughter’s death and how a monster ended her life, he was no less than a monster himself. He was rounding up innocent people and removing their organs in order to traffic them. Shane was killed by the doctor, and his body was dissolved in an acid tub. But Alex was still begging for life. The doctor examined his body and discovered that he might be a drug addict who had nearly destroyed all of his organs by drinking or using certain drugs.
Alex, on the other hand, had very energetic eyes, which the doctor recognized as useful. He surgically removed his eyes and let Alex scream in pain. Meanwhile, Danny was assigned the task of inspecting Grace’s womb. Danny used a sonogram to determine the signs of childbirth. Grace pleaded with him to let her go, but Danny refused. Grace revealed that she had a daughter in the past who may have passed away three years ago, but that she was now optimistic for her life. She wanted to explain that she had lost herself anyhow but now she wanted to forget her past and move on. Danny was reluctant to support his grandfather, who had a history of killing innocent people, but he also didn’t want to lose his family. He left the room, and Cody was put in the same room where Grace was. The two of them devised a strategy to escape this dreadful location. However, despite their best efforts, their plan was unsuccessful, and they were consequently brought to the operating room. The doctor permitted his granddaughter to interact with Alex however she pleased. Alex was brought into the room by the woman, who then unfastened his belts. Since Alex had had his eyes removed, he couldn’t see anything, making it easier for the woman to kill him. Meanwhile, a spark of humanity drove Danny to release Grace from the operating table when the doctor was already opening Cody’s chest. Grace then attacked the doctor. Grace was able to kill Danny’s grandpa in front of Danny after a hurried battle. To save Cody’s life, she began to suture his wound in accordance with his directives. However, the lady had arrived. Cody forced Grace and Danny to abandon him and flee.
While Grace and Danny were outside, Cody and the lady got into a fight inside the operating room, but Cody lost his life. She dashed outside to find Danny and Grace, but while climbing a ladder, Grace poured acid on her face, burning her entire face down. She still managed to get outside and attack Grace, but with Danny’s help, she was restrained by an electrical fence, and her head was severed. Before her death, she cried while looking at Danny, as if she was very close to him and didn’t expect Danny to be able to kill her. But Danny’s actions were correct because he was not inhumane like his entire family. His grandfather, who slaughtered Danny’s father for murdering his daughter, did avenge her death, but he also killed innocent people and trafficked their organs, making him no less than an inhuman, brutal serial killer. Danny was the one who realized Grace deserved to live. Danny never had a mother, but Grace seems likely to raise him as if he were her own child. After much bloodshed, “The Price We Pay” ended with Grace and Danny eager to begin their journey into the unknown.
Final Words
The bloody prosthetics and makeup may be the only thing about the film that deserves admiration. From the beginning to the end, “The Price We Pay” felt like any episode in the middle of a series, with the story of its previous and subsequent episodes unknown to us. There was no specific emphasis on any character’s life, so the viewer had little chance to connect with the character. The Doctor’s backstory has nothing to do with his current actions, making his part in the film the most illogical. Only the director knows why Cody was forced to rob the store after leaving an army. Regardless, “The Price We Pay” is a visual torture due to its extremely gut-wrenching gory scenes, which I don’t believe were necessary for this story. No horror or thriller can be compelling with just gore and gruesome presentation, and “The Price We Pay” is a prime example of this.
