History Film / BlueRuin

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Wade Sr. was the real killer of Dwight's parents, but Wade Jr. took the fall for him, letting him die a free, albeit terminally ill man.]] Teddy taunts Dwight with this information when he's got him at gunpoint.

** Of [[VigilanteMan vigilante movies]]. [[spoiler: Dwight achieves his revenge early in the film, then spends the rest of the movie trying to repair the damages that it caused. He quickly regrets the consequences of his actions, especially after learning that the man he was ''really'' after is long dead]].
** Also deconstructs by showing what would happen in the real world if an untrained person attempted SelfSurgery.

* SelfSurgery: Deconstructed. [[spoiler:After getting shot in the leg with a crossbow, Dwight tries to deal with it himself by shortening its length with a hacksaw before trying to manually remove it with tweezers. Immediately after he starts pulling, he's howling in pain and bleeding profusely, and is barely able to get through the front doors of a nearby hospital in time before collapsing.]]

* TheAllegedCar: The "Blue Ruin" of the title, a battered old Pontiac.

* YouKilledMyFather: Subverted. [[spoiler:Dwight kills Wane for this reason but it turns out Wane was actually a SilentScapegoat for his father.]]

''Blue Ruin'' is a 2014 independent thriller directed by Creator/JeremySaulnier and starring Creator/MaconBlair. It was funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign and had premiere at 2013 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Director's Fortnight section.

* TheAllegedCar: The "Blue Ruin" of the title; a battered old Pontiac.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The entire premise of the movie is turning a revenge film on its head by showing the realistic outcome of a revenge film in which an untrained everyman protagonist kills the man who murdered his parents. From accidentally being cut by trying to puncture a tire and having the air pressure fire the knife back at him to struggling to deal with a crossbow wound himself, Dwight is obviously out of his depth every step of the way.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While Teddy is adamant that [[spoiler: Dwight's father deserved to be killed in retribution to his affair with Wade Sr.'s wife]], he concedes that [[spoiler: murdering Dwight's mother as well]] was a step too far.

* AnnoyingArrows: Subverted. After Dwight is shot in the leg with a crossbow, he at first treats it like no big deal. When he tries to remove the arrow himself, he winds up in the hospital with severe blood loss.

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:It's implied that Dwight is mortally wounded at the end of the film]].

* MadnessMantra: [[spoiler: While bleeding out on the floor after getting shot, Dwight keeps repeating the phrase "The keys are in the car".]]

** Wade [[spoiler: didn't murder Dwight's parents, Cleland Senior did. Wade ended up [[SilentScapegoat taking the fall for the crime]].]]

* SheCleansUpNicely: Dwight after cutting his hair and shaving off his BeardOfSorrow.

* StrippingSnag: In the opening scene, home invader Dwight has to jump out of the bathroom window but his towel gets snagged on a nail, leaving him naked outside.

''Blue Ruin'' is a 2014 independent thriller directed by Creator/JeremySaulnier and starring Macon Blair. It was funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign and had premiere at 2013 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Director's Fortnight section.

* RealityEnsues: ''Blue Ruin'' could easily be titled "Reality Ensues: The Movie." It shows what would really happen if an untrained person tried to make their lifelong revenge fantasy a reality, such as:
** Mishandling weapons—especially bladed ones—and injuring yourself in the process.
** Attempting SelfSurgery without any formal medical training.
** Not actually achieving the catharsis you desired, instead just forcing the opposing party to escalate and make things even worse.
** Unrelated with above: when [[spoiler: Kris Cleland]] tries to shoot Dwight by spraying bullets at him without any aim and doing it one-handed, [[spoiler: she ends up putting the entire series into her own sister]] due to not even trying to aim.

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Arguably how the events of the movie begin. If Dwight simply talked to the Clelands or gathered more information from other sources, he'd learn that [[spoiler:Cleland Senior was the real killer of Dwight's parents]], and that he is already dead.

** When [[spoiler: Kris Cleland]] tries to shoot Dwight by spraying at him without any aim and doing it one-handed, [[spoiler: she ends up putting the entire series into her own sister]] due to not even trying to aim.

''Blue Ruin'' is a 2014 independent thriller directed by Jeremy Saulnier (who wrote and directed ''Film/MurderParty'') and starring Macon Blair. It was funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign and had premiere at 2013 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Director's Fortnight section.

* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Terry let's Dwight in on the truth because the latter would be dead soon. [[spoiler:[[ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind Too bad]] [[BoomHeadshot for Teddy]].]]
-->'''Terry''': I got the gun, you get the truth.

* FamilyHonor: Dwight's parents got murdered to restore the Clelands family honor.

* spoiler:TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:It's implied that Dwight is mortally wounded at the end of the film]].

* BurnBabyBurn: Ben tells Dwight that he might still have a photo of them as high school buddies at a strip club. As they part ways, Dwight tells Ben to burn the picture if he ever finds it.

* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies]]: [[spoiler:It's implied that Dwight is mortally wounded at the end of the film]].

* DueToTheDead:
** Dwight gives Teddy a proper burial in hopes of making amends with the Clelands.
** Inverted with Cleland Sr. After Dwight finds his grave, he goes inside, guzzles glasses of water, and then pisses on the grave stone.

* LetThePastBurn: Ben tells Dwight that he might still have a photo of them as high school buddies at a strip club. As they part ways, Dwight tells Ben to burn the picture if he ever finds it.

* MurderIsTheBestSolution: The Clelands follow this ideal. It's also the reason why Dwight's parents are dead.

** Wade [[spoiler: didn't murder Dwight's parents, Cleland Senior did. Wade ended up taking the fall for the crime.]]