Director Jeremy Drummond’s violent revenge thriller, We Will Kill Them All, had the makings of an intriguing, memorable feature—or so it seemed from the first half of the movie, which takes its time setting up the relationship dynamics between the characters. Up to the point where the leads are put in a crisis situation, which the movie gradually progresses towards, the movie builds up its dramatic potential so well that when the narrative starts falling apart, it almost hits like a whiplash. While the leads offer strong performances with the roles they have been given, the same can not be said for the supporting cast – although that’s not a major deal breaker. Set against an isolated backdrop, the makers could have used the setting in a more innovative way compared to how it was incorporated into the narrative.
Spoilers Ahead
What Did Lee Want To Meet His Daughter?
A seasoned, notorious criminal, Lee Hughes—presently acting as the sole caretaker of a luxurious resort located in the snow-clad valley of the San Juan mountains—is counting down his final days as lung cancer has finally pinned him down. Lee shared a loving relationship with his wife, Jenny, and their daughter, Megan, but ever since Jenny’s death, a sense of estrangement crept into the father-daughter relationship, and eventually both went their separate ways. Now at the last stage of his life, Lee wants to reconcile with his daughter and has invited her to spend a few days at the resort.
On the other hand, Megan is chained to the corporate life and having a tough time making financial arrangements for the new house she bought. She is in a relationship with her girlfriend, Lane Davis, but during a Christmas house party – Megan awkwardly freezes while introducing Lane to one of her colleagues, and simply refers to her as her roommate. Lane is taken aback by Megan’s statement, although later, Megan apologizes for her behavior and reassures Lane about her feelings. Most probably the thought of meeting with her criminal father after all these years had preoccupied Megan’s mind, and caught off guard in a tense moment, she failed to acknowledge her relationship with Lane. Anyway, Megan plans to take her girlfriend along during her stay at the resort as well and starts sharing her fond memories of her childhood with Lane. Megan reveals how, back in the day, she took up the habit of stealing things from her father, and instead of discouraging her, Lee made up a treasure hunt-type game with riddles and a wooden magpie. The father-daughter duo had their way of bonding with each other, and Lane found it amusing. Megan can’t help but feel ashamed in revealing the truth about her father to Lane, but she doesn’t seem to be someone who judges others’ journeys. Lane jokingly remarks that, after all, she works in pharma, so the criminal background of Lee doesn’t bother her in the least.
Why Did Jimmy Hunt Down Lee?
However, Lee has another reason to invite his daughter to the resort, as he wants to entrust her with his life savings—almost two million dollars in cash. As it turns out, Lee had pulled a big score with Jimmy Montague, one of the members of his former crew, years ago, but due to a miscommunication between both of them – Jimmy never got his half of the money and got himself in trouble, while Lee went scot free. At present, Lee wants to hand Megan over the money—perhaps as a way of compensating for all the lost time he couldn’t be with his daughter.
However, Jimmy and his present crew—Duke, Cody, and Roman, all dreaded, psychopathic criminals—manage to track down Lee after all these years and decide to pay him a visit as Jimmy wants to take his money back. Noticing them pulling up at the resort, Lee takes the bag of cash and hides it, leaving a note with his final message for Megan and a wooden magpie as a clue. An elderly Lee still has some fight in him, as he manages to strangle Duke to death, but Jimmy and co. manage to capture him later on. Jimmy, who is aware of Lee’s cancer diagnosis, starts torturing him, and noticing him holding on to his family photograph, threatens to put Megan’s life in danger unless he reveals the location of the stolen money. Lee refuses to share the truth until the very end, and finally succumbs to his injuries – Jimmy puts a bullet in him just to be sure, and asks his crew to turn the resort upside down to find the cash.
Did Megan and Lane Survive at the End?
As Megan and Lane arrive at the resort, Jimmy and his thugs round them up and begin harassing the couple, as Jimmy believes Lee had shared the location where he had hidden the money with his daughter. Despite knowing it is impossible to reason with these crooks, Megan tries to convince Jimmy of the truth—that for the last eight years she has remained unaware of her father’s whereabouts, and Jimmy probably has a better idea about Lee’s present than she does at this point. Jimmy reveals the news of Lee’s cancer diagnosis to Megan and the truth about his death, which devastates Megan.
At this point, Jackie Wayne, a representative of the local tourism board, arrives to inspect the resort as per the agreement she previously had with Lee. Jimmy goes to distract her, leaving his two numbskull lackeys—Roman and Cody—to hold Megan and Lane captive. Jimmy instructs Roman to sabotage their vehicle, and using this opportunity, Megan and Lane break free. While Jimmy remains busy diverting Wayne’s attention, Roman and Cody give chase to the couple. Eventually, Cody follows Megan into the wilderness, and Roman holds Lane captive. Jackie gets alerted by the strange noises coming from the other side of the resort, and, unable to keep up the pretense any longer, Jimmy viciously murders her.
A lecherous Roman tries to rape Lane, but Megan arrives just in time to save her girlfriend, and Lane accidentally stabs Roman to death. Now Cody and Jimmy begin chasing the couple, and getting a hold of her anti-anxiety pills, Megan manages to spike Cody’s drink. Later on, as Cody manages to capture her and both of them end up falling in the pool, Megan strangles him to death. However, Lane once again gets captured, this time by Jimmy – who beats her up badly and keeps her chained with barbed wire. Jimmy catches up to Megan as well, and threatening her with the life of her girlfriend, he forces Megan to reveal the location where Lee might have stashed away the money. As Megan is unable to lead him to the money, Jimmy decides to put her out of her misery and brings Megan to the remains of her father. However, Lane is revealed to have unshackled herself and spit out the heavy dose strychnine pill Jimmy had put in her mouth to ensure a slow death. Moments before Jimmy is about to kill Megan, Lane shoots him to death. The lovers finally reunite, and after recuperating a bit, decide to leave the resort and try to forget the hellish experience they had. Megan is ashamed as to how her father’s dark past resulted in Lane going through such a harrowing, traumatic experience, but Lane reassures her—mentioning Lee might have tried to move on after all and possibly wanted to reconcile with Megan before his demise.
Did Megan find the money?
As the couple prepare to leave, Megan finds the note and the magpie Lee had left for her, and using the clues she remembered from the game she used to play with her father, Megan finds the money stashed inside the kitbag of a golf cart. The couple went through hell and returned, and now they reap the rewards of their suffering, as they are free to plan their future in whichever way they like. The scene shifts to a year later, during another Christmas house party, and this time, Megan has no hesitation in acknowledging her girlfriend Lane’s presence in her life. At the same time, Megan seems to have made peace with her past, as she also acknowledges the role of her father in changing things up for the better.
