Line #16 Film/Brake


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brake_poster.jpg]]
2
3	''Brake'' is an 2012 American thriller film directed by Gabe Torres, written by Timothy Mannion, and starring Stephen Dorff.
4
5	Jeremy Reins (Dorff) is a U.S. Secret Service special agent assigned to the presidential detail who is kidnapped and held captive within a glass box in the trunk of a car. He soon begins to endure mental and physical torture by his kidnappers, terrorists who attempt to extract information about the location of the secret bunkers, dubbed "Roulette", that are used by the President and Vice President of the United States during a national emergency. Reins' only contact is Henry, another hostage that is also locked in a trunk of a car.
6
7	----
8
9	!! This film provides examples of:
10	* {{Chiaroscuro}}: No sunlight penetrates the glass box, and in the times when the artificial light doesn't light it, the light that comes from either the opening Jeremy's captors use to send him items or the bullet hole made during the police chase gives harsh shadows.
11	* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler: In the end it is seemingly revealed that the whole situation was an exercise put by his superiors to test whether Jeremy would break or not in his job at the presidential detail, with the collaboration of Molly, his estranged wife. Then, on the way to the hospital to treat his wounds, he sees the Washington monument through the window and chuckles. Just after Jeremy asks her to marry him again. she handcuffs him to the gurney and pulls a wire from her shirt, revealing themselves to have been terrorists all along, and that they lured Jeremy into a false sense of security to reveal the location and now can be killed. As Molly holds a mask filled with some kind of gas over Jeremy's face, the film cuts to black. Cue credits.]]
12	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: It's more than likely that Jeremy ends up getting killed, and the terrorists get the information they wanted to carry on with whatever terrorist attack they plan against the President.]]
13	* EnclosedSpace: It doesn't get any more enclosed than a glass box in the cramped trunk of a car.
14	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Everyone except Jeremy until the ending.
15	* HopeSpot: A particularly nasty one. [[spoiler:Mixes with DownerEnding. After nearly drowning in the glass box, Jeremy is pulled out by someone, revealed to be Henry. It is revealed that the whole situation was an exercise by his superiors to test whether Jeremy would break or not in his job at the presidential detail. Everyone he saw or was in contact with (the truck driver, the 911 dispatcher, the news anchor, his estranged wife Molly) is present, along with their radios, which they used to play their parts. Jeremy is then put in an ambulance with Molly to be treated for his wounds. On the way to the hospital, he sees the Washington monument through the window and chuckles. Noticing this, Molly looks out the window and asks if the monument was the location the "terrorists" were asking for, but Jeremy dismisses it as unimportant and they exchange "I love yous." As they kiss, Molly handcuffs him to the gurney and pulls a wire from her shirt. Revealing themselves to really having being terrorists all along, Molly and Henry are told over the radio that they have the location now that they lured him into a false sense of security and Jeremy is to be killed. As Molly holds a gas-filled mask over Jeremy's face, the film cuts to black.]]
16	* HumiliationConga: And it never stops for poor Jeremy.
17	* MinimalistCast: Stephen Dorff is the only actor shown for most of the film up until the ending.
18	* NeverTrustATrailer: Some trailers downplayed the EnclosedSpace aspect of the film by showing a scene of Jeremy punching somebody on the outside and pulling a gun at said person. It turns out that scene doesn't come up until towards the end, [[spoiler: when Jeremy finally is pulled out of the glass box.]]
19	* ScaryStingingSwarm: The glass box comes with a counter that when it comes to zero, releases some kind of torture on Jeremy. At one point, bees are released into Jeremy's tank, since he is allergic to bee stings. However, the terrorists give him an Epi-pen injection, saving his life: they need him alive to give them the information about "Roulette."
20	* SmallSecludedWorld: Almost nothing gets in or out of the glass box, and for a long, ''long'' part of the film, that includes the camera.

Context Film / Brake