Line #3 Film/Chained


1	[[quoteright:279:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fmai2mlr1y0movieposter_2.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:279:From now on, this is your world.]]
3	->'''Angie:''' How long have you been here?\
4	'''Rabbit:''' Since I was nine.
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6	''Chained'' is a 2012 {{psychological thriller}} written and directed by Jennifer Lynch ([[Creator/DavidLynch David's]] daughter) and based on a screenplay by Damian O'Donnell. It stars Creator/VincentDOnofrio, Eamon Farren, Gina Philips, Creator/ConorLeslie, Evan Bird, Jake Weber, and Julia Ormond.
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8	Bob is a {{serial killer}} whose occupation as a cab driver allows him to abduct young women and murder them in his home. When a young boy takes a ride in his cab, Bob has a different fate in store for him: the boy, renamed "Rabbit" by Bob, becomes his [[MadeASlave personal prisoner]] who must not only help with Bob's normal day-to-day activities, but is also forced to assist Bob in his crimes and clean-up the carnage Bob creates. Several years pass and the now teenage Rabbit continues to experience death and suffering on a near-daily basis, but Bob begins to show care for the young man, treating him less like a slave and more like a son. Bob's motives, however, remain less than benevolent and being granted freedom from his captor will require Rabbit to do [[MoralEventHorizon something he won't be able to come back from]].
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10	!!This film contains examples of the following tropes:
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12	* AbusiveParents: Bob ([[spoiler:along with Brad]]) was horrifically abused by his father, including being forced to [[ParentalIncest have sexual intercourse with his mother]], which led to him becoming a serial killer.
13	** As he considers himself to be Rabbit's true father, Bob also becomes one to his captive [[spoiler:in addition to being an EvilUncle]].
14	** Fittingly, [[spoiler:Brad]] turns out to be an abusive parent as well on account of him [[spoiler:orchestrating the kidnapping of his son]].
15	* AgonyOfTheFeet: [[spoiler:Angie cuts open Bob's heel, which later helps Rabbit gain the upper hand over him]].
16	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Unlike Bob's other victims, alcohol causes Mary to willingly come to his house and she remains oblivious to why she was brought into an empty room [[spoiler:until Bob slits her throat]].
17	* AwkwardFatherSonBondingActivity: Some rather twisted examples. Bob and Rabbit play a card game, except the "cards" are actually the driver's licenses of the women Bob has killed and the game involves identifying their personal information. And they drive through the city together searching for a young woman to abduct and murder, with Bob even acknowledging he's happy that Rabbit is with him.
18	* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Brad]]. Initially presented as a {{family man}} who was an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom when he insisted that Sarah and Rabbit take a cab home instead of a bus, it turns out that he was [[spoiler:fully aware of what was going to happen because he hired Bob, his brother, to get rid of them]].
19	* BlindedByTheLight: Bob is temporarily blinded when Angie shines a flashlight beam in his face.
20	* BringMeMyBrownPants: Rabbit wets himself while hearing [[spoiler:Bob kill his mother]].
21	* CallBack: Before Rabbit was abducted, the last thing Brad told him was to take care of his mother. Rabbit [[spoiler:reminds Brad of this comment when he sees him again]] because not only was he too young to take care of his mother, [[spoiler:Brad knew that they were going to be abducted]].
22	** When [[spoiler:Brad subsequently attacks Marie]], Rabbit is able to do what he couldn't do as a child.
23	* CellPhonesAreUseless: Sarah's cell phone loses its signal just as she starts to realize that the cab she and Rabbit are in isn't taking them home.
24	* CharacterWitness: [[spoiler:Marie hides Rabbit's involvement in her husband's death from the police after Rabbit saves her from him]].
25	* ChekhovsSkill: Rabbit's knowledge of human anatomy allows him to [[spoiler:stab Angie in a location where there are no vital organs]], satisfying Bob without [[spoiler:taking her life]].
26	* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: [[spoiler:Sarah is the only [[GoodParents good parent]] Rabbit has and he loses her when he's nine]].
27	* DivorceRequiresDeath: [[spoiler:To get rid of Sarah, Brad paid his serial killer brother to take her away instead of divorcing her]].
28	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Rabbit goes through years of physical and emotional abuse trapped in a home filled with death and suffering, requiring him to overcome Bob [[spoiler:and his own father]] to escape the pain. [[spoiler:He kills them both, but whether he actually obtains a happy ending is left open-ended]].
29	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: As badly as he treats his captive and murder victims, Bob does seem to care about Rabbit. [[spoiler:Which might be because Rabbit is his nephew]].
30	** Bob also seems to care about his younger brother. [[spoiler:The fact that he didn't cash the check Brad gave him to abduct Sarah and Rabbit implies he did it for his brother, not for the money]].
31	* EvilUncle: [[spoiler:Bob]].
32	* EmptyPromise: While being taken away by Bob, Sarah insists to Rabbit that she's fine. [[spoiler: She's not]].
33	* FakingTheDead: Rabbit stages the death of [[spoiler:Angie by stabbing her in a non-fatal location]] to stop Bob from killing her and make Bob believe that he's become a killer.
34	* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Brad]], whose front as a {{family man}} drops when he's confronted by Rabbit about what he's done.
35	* FinalGirl: [[spoiler: Angie was kept alive by Rabbit, making her the only survivor of Bob's killing spree.]]
36	* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:The film ends with Rabbit/Tim returning to Bob's house and only the sounds of him performing menial tasks are heard as the credits roll. Exactly what he's doing, why he returned to home he was held prisoner in, and what has ultimately become of him are left unrevealed]].
37	* HappilyMarried: Sarah and Marie are. [[spoiler:Brad, not so much]].
38	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Bob pushes Rabbit to become a killer [[spoiler: which results in him becoming the first person killed by Rabbit, as well as being stabbed with his own knife and buried alongside his victims]].
39	* MamaBear: Sarah tries to protect her son by getting in between him and Bob.
40	** Her effort is unfortunately in vain as Rabbit is unable to leave her before Bob knocks her out.
41	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Bob has Rabbit educate himself in human anatomy so he'll know how to efficiently kill future victims. Instead, Rabbit uses his anatomy knowledge to [[spoiler:save Angie by stabbing her where no vital organs are located, making it appear to Bob that he killed her while actually keeping her alive]].
42	** Additionally, Bob's attempts to force Rabbit into taking an innocent life [[spoiler:instead results in Rabbit killing Bob to stop him from killing Angie]].
43	** [[spoiler:And because Bob didn't dispose of Bob's letter, Rabbit is able to learn why he and his mother were kidnapped]].
44	* NothingIsScarier: For Rabbit, hearing only the screams of [[spoiler:his mother as Bob murders her]], helpless to save her and forced to imagine what Bob is doing to her.
45	* OhCrap: Rabbit's reaction when Bob says they're going to watch the video of Rabbit's first murder. [[spoiler: The video footage will reveal to Bob that Rabbit faked the murder]].
46	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Rabbit is obviously not his real name as Bob gave it to him to demean him, but it's the only name he's known by throughout most of the film, to the point where even he treats it as his real name.
47	** [[spoiler:His real name is revealed at the end to be Tim]].
48	* ParentalAbandonment: What Bob points out to Rabbit in trying to justify why he's the only person who cares about him. [[spoiler:Rabbit's mother is dead (courtesy of yours truly)]] and his father has moved on by remarrying. And although Bob keeps this to himself, he knows that [[spoiler:Brad, his brother, truly has abandoned Rabbit on account of Brad asking him to take Rabbit away]].
49	* PoliceAreUseless: The police are practically non-existent and Bob even mocks them for being unable to trace the disappearances back to him. Only one police car makes an appearance and the officer driving it goes past Bob.
50	** The original script focused on two detectives tracking down Bob, but they were cut from the final film to put the focus on Bob and Rabbit.
51	* QuestionableConsent: Angie gives Rabbit consent to touch her body and have sex with her, but it's out of fear for her life and with the hope that [[LeonineContract if she gives him her body, he won't kill her]]. [[spoiler:Fortunately for Angie, Rabbit doesn't want to take her body or her life]].
52	* SoundOnlyDeath: Most of Bob's victims are killed off-screen and only their screams are heard by Rabbit, with [[spoiler:the sounds of his mother being murdered]] being the most traumatic.
53	* TraumaButton:
54	** Bob witnessing an abusive father berating and striking his son brings back memories of his own abusive father.
55	** Returning to the cab he was abducted in triggers Rabbit's memory of watching [[spoiler:Bob drag Sarah away to her death]] and later witnessing [[spoiler:Brad preparing to rape Marie]] causes him to remember Bob raping his own victims.
56	* TraumaCongaLine: Rabbit experiences [[spoiler:the murder of his mother]] at age 9, is forced to live with a serial killer while chained to a wall for about a decade, witnesses countless murders throughout that time while cleaning up the blood and burying the bodies, faces efforts to turn him into a serial killer, and after all that, he learns [[spoiler:his own father had arranged his kidnapping]].
57	* VerbedTitle
58	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fates of Bob's [[spoiler:and Brad's]] parents are never revealed. The father may have been a KarmaHoudini or might have been the first kill referenced by Bob.
59	* WouldntHitAGirl: Rabbit, in firm contrast to Bob and [[spoiler:Brad]]. Unlike the others, Rabbit ends up [[spoiler:killing to protect women]].
60	** He does [[spoiler:stab Angie, but it's to save her life from Bob]].
61	* WouldntHurtAChild: While Bob has no problem [[WouldHitAGirl murdering women]], he spares Rabbit and keeps him alive (albeit as a prisoner) in his house. [[spoiler:Although Rabbit being his nephew might have been the main reason why Bob didn't kill him]].
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Context Film / Chained