Cash Only 2016

Elvis Martini is a Detroit-based Albanian-American landlord who orchestrates an arson to pull off an insurance scam, a plan that spirals far beyond his control. When his wife unexpectedly returns home and dies in the blaze, he is left to raise their daughter alone, a heavy burden that gnaws at him as the years pass. Two years later, a judge grants him a brief extension to repay what he owes to the bank, even as a loan shark hovers in the background, pressing for payment. The mounting financial pressure nudges him toward exploiting his tenants to fill the gaps in his own finances, a decision that sets off a dangerous chain of consequences.

Among the tenants are Leka, a fellow Albanian, and his fiancée Blerta, with whom Martini is entangled in an affair. As debts pile up, Martini schemes to extract more money by tightening terms on Kush, a tenant who grows marijuana, demanding a cut of Kush’s profits and a higher rent. Kush agrees, but the relationship between them strains under the new terms, and the pressure only deepens when Martini turns his attention to Rolexa, a prostitute whose back rent becomes a weapon in his widening web of coercion. Rolexa’s vulnerability becomes another lever in Martini’s relentless push to cover his debts.

To keep tabs on everyone, Martini relies on security cameras hidden throughout the buildings, a method that lets him spy on the tenants and move pieces on a dangerous chessboard. He spots Rolexa stashing something in her apartment and, while she’s away, enlists his friend Agroni to change her lock. In Rolexa’s apartment, Martini uncovers enough cash to reconnect his daughter with a private Catholic school and to make payments to both the bank and the loan shark. After briefly taking care of Rolexa’s unsupervised son, Martini evicts Rolexa, dismissing her threats as he tries to stabilize his own precarious situation.

Yet stability remains illusory. Martini’s world collapses when thugs disrupt his sexual encounter with Blerta and abduct his daughter, leaving him terrified and furious. Dino, a ruthless mob boss, lays down a ruthless ultimatum: he has until the next night to return the money Rolexa stole for him plus additional penalties. In a desperate bid to salvage something, Martini pursues Rolexa, intending to reason with her, but discovers she is dead.

With time running out and the debts multiplying, Martini engineers a more elaborate rent scam—taking cash-only security deposits from many tenants for the same apartment. Desperation pushes him to sell his car to Agroni and pawn many of his possessions. Kush’s refusal to help pushes Martini further to the brink; he infiltrates Kush’s apartment, knocks him unconscious, and steals Kush’s drug money. He divides the loot into two bags and heads to meet Dino’s thugs, who stash him in a car trunk to ferry him to a warehouse confrontation.

Martini, nonetheless, refuses to abandon hope of saving his daughter and managing his obligations. He calls Agroni for help and winds up at Dino’s warehouse, where he offers one bag and promises to reveal the second once his daughter is safe. Dino tortures him to reveal the location, and Martini quickly discloses the second bag. The scene escalates into a confrontation as Dino threatens to violate and kill Martini in front of his child, but reinforcements arrive—Cantor, Leka, and several Albanians—shattering Dino’s gang and killing his thugs.

In the final and most harrowing moment, Martini uses a hidden pocket knife to kill Dino, a grim end to a night of broken bargains and escalating violence. He is reunited with his daughter, but the admission hangs over him: he knows he does not deserve her, even as he clings to the chance to keep her safe moving forward. The story closes on a somber note, with Martini facing the consequences of a life driven by debt, fear, and a desperate bid for control in a world where every choice seems to come at a steep price.