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Writer Roderick Taylor and director Neil Jordan crafted a deeply affecting thriller examining violent vengeance and society's tenuous hold over primal instincts with The Brave One.
Jodie Foster gives a towering performance as radio host Erica Bain, her gentle nature shattered after a brutal assault leaves her soul seeking retribution through vigilantism on the gritty New York streets.
Terrence Howard brings great nuance as the detective tracking her, recognizing in Erica what society prefers to ignore - that we all have a breaking point where a "civilized" veneer cracks.
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Superb supporting work from Naveen Andrews and Nicky Katt further underscore the moral ambiguities as Erica's personal war escalates, questioning who truly possesses a "monopoly on violence."
Violence has seldom been depicted with such unflinching psychological acuity, nor vengeance examined so searchingly for its costs on the human psyche. Jordan elicits raw torment from Foster.
A deeply complex character study that resonates long after in questioning whether any of us can claim to know our own limits until pushed beyond endurance. Foster owns the screen as rarely before or since.
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Masterfully filmed by Robert Richardson, The Brave One warrants regular revisiting for its textured insights into humanity's capacity for vengeance and rehabilitation.
It grossed $37 million worldwide at the box office on a budget of just $19 million.