A History Of Violence (2005)

Plot synopsis of A History of Violence (2005)

The movie begins by showing two men, Jones and Billy, who have just come out of a small shop on the outskirts of town. Since their drinking water supply had run out, Jones asked Billy to go back inside and get some. After Billy re-entered the shop, he was shocked to find corpses lying everywhere and blood splattered across the place. Jones and Billy turn out to be a gang of robbers who frequently target small shops on the outskirts of town. This is quite understandable because such shops are usually poorly guarded, making them easy targets.

While Billy is filling the water, a little girl suddenly comes out of hiding—the only survivor of the massacre. Not wanting their crime to be exposed, Billy immediately draws his gun and ruthlessly kills the innocent girl. The scene then shifts to a man named Tom Stall, who is about to open his diner in a small town in Indiana. Tom has a son named Jack, a high school student. That day, Jack played in a baseball game and led his team to victory.

However, in the locker room, Jack is confronted by a young man named Bobby, who is upset that his team lost. Bobby challenges Jack to a fight, but Jack—who avoids trouble—tells him to stop bothering him. He even mocks himself by openly admitting he is a “coward” who is afraid of Bobby, which embarrasses Bobby as the others laugh. Bobby leaves in humiliation.

That evening, Tom and his employees are cleaning up as the diner is about to close. Only two customers remain, finishing their meals. A moment later, Jones and Billy enter the diner and attempt to order food. Tom politely informs them that they're no longer serving because the shop is closing. Jones gets irritated and snaps at Tom. Not wanting trouble, Tom agrees to serve them. Tom tells his waitress to go home since it’s late. But as she heads toward the door, Billy stands up, blocks her way, and harasses her. Moments later, Jones pulls out a gun and threatens Tom, demanding all the money.

Tom does not remain passive. With swift, precise movements, he manages to take down both Jones and Billy—despite getting stabbed in the foot during the struggle. Everyone is stunned. They never imagined that Tom, an ordinary, polite, soft-spoken diner owner, could take down two armed criminals like a professional killer.

The story makes the news locally and internationally. Media outlets praise Tom as a hero who singlehandedly stopped two ruthless robbers. Tom’s wife, Edie, picks him up from the hospital, where crowds cheer for him as a hero. Reporters even gather outside their home, but Tom politely asks them to leave, insisting that his actions were nothing special and anyone would have done the same. When Tom enters the house, Jack proudly welcomes his father, now seen as a hometown hero. Meanwhile, Edie notices a black car parked near their home. Thinking it's just more media, she ignores it.

A few days later, the diner reopens—now crowded with people eager to meet the hero. There are so many customers that Edie comes in to help Tom and the overwhelmed staff. Soon, a group of well-dressed men in suits enters the diner. Their leader, Carl Fogarty, looks at Tom and addresses him as “Joey Cusack.” Tom denies it, insisting that his name is Tom Stall. Carl removes his glasses and asks if Tom recognizes him now. Tom repeats that he is not Joey. He even shows Carl his ID, but Carl ignores it and leaves with a sly smile.

After they leave, Edie calls Sheriff Carney to report the three suspicious men. The sheriff intercepts Carl’s car and questions them, but Carl calmly says they only wanted coffee. Later, Sheriff Carney visits Tom and Edie at their home. He reveals that Carl Fogarty is a crime boss from Philadelphia, infamous for brutal criminal activities. Despite their violent history, Carl and his men always avoid prison because of their wealth and connections. The sheriff asks Tom if he has any connection to Carl or if there’s any reason Carl would target him. Tom explains that Carl must have mistaken him for someone named Joey Cusack—but he has no idea who Joey is.

The next day, coinciding with Sunday, Tom decided to go to his diner to calm his mind, because it was accidentally closed that day. While Tom was sipping his coffee thoughtfully, he saw Carl's car parked in front of his shop and watched him. Not long after, the car was gone from there. Tom, who thought that Carl would come to his house, then rushed out of the shop and called his wife as he ran home. Tom then asked his wife to take the shotgun on top of the cupboard in case Carl and his men attacked them. Long story short, Tom finally got home first. Edie asked what was really going on. Jack, having breakfast, looked very surprised because he had just found out that his father had a shotgun.

A few days later, Edie and her daughter, Sarah, visited a shopping center. However, when Edie was busy shopping, Sarah suddenly disappeared. Edie looked very panicked when searching for her daughter's whereabouts. Luckily, she found Sarah before something bad happened to her. However, unexpectedly, Carl was there. He then told Edie about her real husband, named Joey Cusack, the most feared assassin in Philadelphia, nicknamed “the Ghost.” Carl told her that Tom was the one who injured his eye. Edie, who did not believe Carl's words, immediately took her daughter away.

Meanwhile, at school, Jack was again the target of bullying by Bobby and his friends. They insulted and despised Jack's family, even calling Jack's father a murderer. Because they had insulted his family, Jack didn’t just sit back—he fought. However, because of the fight, Jack was suspended from school and scolded by his father. Tom then advised his son that violence was not the right solution to solve every problem. However, Jack replied by mentioning the actions taken by his father when facing a herd of robbers. Hearing this, Tom was furious and slapped his son's face.

When Tom talked to his wife about Carl, Carl and two of his henchmen came to Tom's house, saying that Tom had to go with them to Philadelphia because someone wanted to meet him. They had taken Jack hostage so that Tom would do what they wanted. Not wanting to endanger his son’s safety, Tom immediately said he was willing to go with them to Philadelphia, provided they freed Jack. Carl agreed and freed Jack.

After making sure his family was home and safe, Tom took his words back and said he wasn’t going back to Philadelphia. Hearing this, Carl ordered his men to forcibly bring Tom. But Tom easily disarmed them and killed all of Carl's men. However, Carl managed to shoot Tom in the shoulder during the struggle, leaving him helpless. When Carl was about to kill Tom, he asked if Tom had any last words. Tom said he should have killed Carl back in Philadelphia. Seeing his father in danger, Jack suddenly came and shot Carl, killing him.

Tom was then rushed to the hospital for intensive care. Not long after, Edie came to see him. She confronted him about his true identity. With a heavy heart, Tom finally admitted that he was Joey Cusack, a hitman who often worked for gangsters in Philadelphia. However, he decided to bury his dark past and start a new life after meeting Edie, the only woman he had ever truly loved. Hearing this confession, Edie became very angry and disappointed with Tom, who had kept it a secret for so long.

After returning home, Tom became even more isolated from his family and the community. Even Jack looked disappointed in his father, who turned out to be a murderer. After the incident, Sheriff Carney visited Tom's house to ask about what happened to Carl and his henchmen. He seemed suspicious of Tom, especially after rumors spread that he was an assassin. Unexpectedly, Edie decided to help Tom and convinced Sheriff Carney that her husband was completely innocent and not Joey Cusack, who was said to be a hitman. Edie said her family had been through a lot of trouble since the diner robbery and pleaded with the sheriff not to add to their problems. Hearing this, Sheriff Carney became uncomfortable and left.

In the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, Tom suddenly woke up after getting a call from a man named Richie, who was from Philadelphia. He asked Tom to come meet him immediately and threatened to come to Tom's house if he refused. Not wanting to endanger his family, Tom decided to go to Philadelphia alone.

Upon arrival, Tom met one of Richie's men at a bar, who took him to Richie's residence. Richie, the most respected crime boss in Philadelphia, turned out to be Tom's older brother. Tom and Richie then engaged in a conversation, where Richie expressed his disappointment because Tom had suddenly disappeared during their fight against the gangsters in the city. Tom soon realized that his past actions had hindered Richie's success as a crime boss who could have ruled all of Philadelphia. Tom intended to make amends by returning to being a hitman for his brother. But Richie actually wanted to eliminate Tom once and for all. He ordered all his men to kill Tom.

However, Tom was not an easy opponent. It didn’t take long for him to finish off all of Richie's men alone. When Tom was about to kill Richie, the latter seemed to want to say something. But Tom didn’t care and immediately killed him. After that, Tom drove back to his home in Indiana. He finally arrived while his wife and children were getting ready for dinner. After a tense and awkward moment, Jack offered Tom some food, and Edie invited him to sit with them—signaling his acceptance back into the family. The moral that can be learned from this movie is never to give up on repenting and leaving the dark past behind, because everyone has the right to start a new, better life and reach a bright future ahead.

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Video recap of A History Of Violence (2005)