Hotline Miami 2023

In What’s After the Movie, the story plunges into a dark and surreal world where reality and perception blur. The narrative begins in April 1989, with a man known as Jacket receiving an eerie message on his answering machine and a mysterious package containing a rooster mask. Inside the package are instructions directing him to retrieve a briefcase from the Russian mafia at a busy metro station. Following these orders, Jacket carries out his mission, but this act marks only the start of a series of increasingly disturbing events.

As Jacket completes each task, he continues to receive cryptic messages compelling him to commit further acts of violence and massacres. After each violent mission, Jacket visits a shop or restaurant where he encounters a man known as Beard. This figure often hands him free items, such as pizza, films, or alcoholic drinks, which seem to serve as fleeting moments of normalcy amid the chaos. One striking event involves Jacket assaulting the estate of a film producer, during which he rescues a girl. He then takes her into his apartment, swiftly nursing her back to health and developing a complex, romantic connection with her.

Throughout the story, Jacket faces mysterious encounters with three masked figures: Richard, Rasmus (Owl), and Don Juan (Horse). These characters question him about his actions and motives, adding layers of psychological tension. The surreal episode continues when Jacket finds himself in a brutal confrontation at a phone company, where he discovers everyone else has been killed, except for a Biker, who is desperately trying to access a computer system, leading to a violent fight.

As the plot progresses, Jacket’s perception of reality becomes increasingly distorted. He begins seeing talking corpses at Beard’s workplace, and shortly after, Beard himself mysteriously dies, replaced by a pale man named Richter. Richter offers Jacket nothing, symbolizing the unraveling of his mind. One night, Jacket discovers his girlfriend has been murdered by Richter, who then shoots Jacket, leaving him in a coma. During this traumatic period, Jacket experiences cryptic conversations where Richard hints that he’s been reliving the past two months in a dreamlike state, suggesting a deeper, more complex reality.

When Jacket eventually wakes from his coma, he learns that Richter has been arrested. Driven by a need for answers, Jacket escapes the hospital and launches a relentless assault on Miami police headquarters, killing nearly everyone inside. He then confronts Richter, discovering that both were receiving mysterious messages. In a pivotal moment, Jacket spares Richter’s life after learning that he too had been manipulated through the same message system, and steals files related to police investigations of the killings. His journey continues as he invades a nightclub where the calls originated, eliminating everyone there.

Jacket’s quest culminates at the Russian mafia headquarters, where he faces the bosses. He injures one and kills his bodyguard, but the other boss—recognizing Jacket’s brutal relentless—chooses to take his own life instead of resisting. In a reflective moment, Jacket considers the violent actions he has taken and quietly steps onto a balcony, lights a cigarette, and throws a photo into the void, symbolizing perhaps a desire to leave behind the chaos.

The story then expands into an epilogue centered on the Biker, another character who has also been receiving mysterious messages. As the Biker seeks to uncover the source, he finds himself involved in unraveling a clandestine plot led by 50 Blessings, a group run by two janitors aiming to destabilize international relations between the Soviet Union and the United States by instructing operatives to massacre Russians.

The game offers viewers two distinct endings, hinging on their ability to find scattered puzzle pieces to unlock the full story behind 50 Blessings. If the player cracks the password, the Biker exposes their secrets and their political motives. Without it, he is mocked and fails to uncover the truth. In both scenarios, the Biker faces a choice—whether to kill or spare the janitors—before walking away from Miami, ending his quest for answers.

Throughout this haunting, psychologically intense journey, themes of control, manipulation, violence, and the search for truth intertwine, creating a deeply immersive experience that probes the thin line between sanity and madness.