Missionary Man 2007

Ryder, Dolph Lundgren, is a stranger who rides into a small Texas town to attend the funeral of his good friend J.J., a local Native American carpenter. He spends his days in the town buried in the Bible and sipping tequila straight from the bottle, a stark ritual that marks him as an outsider while he scans the streets for answers. At the wake, he speaks with Nancy, Kateri Walker, J.J.’s sister, who insists that J.J. drowned in a river, though her teenage son Junior, John D. Montoya, refuses to accept that explanation. The town’s power dynamics become clear when local businessman John Reno, Matthew Tompkins, introduces himself and quietly tells his employee Murphy, Charles Solomon Jr., to keep an eye on Ryder, foreshadowing the trouble to come.

Sheriff Acoma, James Chalke, a man who struggles with his own demons, warns Ryder to leave town, signaling that the sheriff’s tolerance for Reno’s methods is waning but incomplete. The uneasy balance is shattered when Ryder steps in to stop a group of Reno’s thugs from roughing up a local drug user named Billy, Jonny Cruz. The scene cements Ryder’s role as an avenger of the oppressed, even as it broadens the rift between the strikingly different visions for the town’s future.

White Deer, August Schellenberg, the father of Nancy and J.J., engages with Kiowa, Chelsea Ricketts, a 15-year-old girl who carries suspicions about J.J.’s death. Kiowa believes J.J. was killed because he knew something about Reno, and she suspects that some tribal council members may be aligned with Reno’s interests. The council’s debate intensifies when Chief Dan, Richard Ray Whitman, announces that Assistant Chief Lance, Titos Menchaca, has proposed bringing a state-of-the-art casino to tribal land, a project that would bring jobs and revenue but carries a heavy price tag. J.J. had proposed a different path—one that prioritized skilled training and meaningful employment for the tribe while leveraging gaming profits without the broader downsides.

As the town debates, Billy witnesses a drug deal between Reno and a group of Mexican men, and Reno’s men quickly kill the Mexican workers before Reno orders Murphy to find Billy and end him. Lance cautions that Reno’s ruthless approach is attracting too much attention, and it becomes clear that Reno’s grand casino scheme hinges on removing any obstacles, including J.J.’s proposals. Kiowa and Junior uncover more clues, and the family’s safety becomes Ryder’s mission as he takes Kiowa and Junior to a safe place and confronts Reno’s aggression.

That night, Ryder continues teaching Bible lessons to children under White Deer’s guidance while Junior leads Nancy to the old camp ground where Billy has been found wounded in the arm. Reno’s men arrive again, and Ryder responds with force, beating them and scattering their vehicles. Ryder and Nancy seek Sheriff Acoma, delivering news of Billy’s shooting and Reno’s attempt to press assault charges against Ryder. Reno offers Ryder work, but Ryder refuses, provoking a direct confrontation in Reno’s bar where he blasts the place and its crowd.

The conflict escalates when Jarfe, John Enos III, leads a biker gang that Reno has summoned to help push the casino plan. This gang is the same one that killed Nancy’s husband, an ambiguous history that threads through Kiowa’s fear and Junior’s determination. Billy’s fate catches up with the town when Jarfe and his men fatally shoot him, pushing Ryder toward a personal reckoning.

Jarfe targets Ryder directly, storming the hotel where Ryder is staying and killing deputies during the assault. Ryder, with aid from Hoss, Brad Imes, starts to dismantle Jarfe’s operation by taking down his gang members as they close in. Sheriff Acoma closes in on Reno with his two main henchmen, Murphy and Gomez, Lawrence Varnado, and a dramatic confrontation ensues. Acoma shoots Murphy and Gomez and knocks Reno to the floor, then Ryder confronts Jarfe and finally kills him with the same gun Jarfe once used against Ryder. In the aftermath, Sheriff Acoma locks Reno up, and Ryder quietly leaves town, his presence a grim reminder of the thin line between law, vengeance, and justice in a place where power and tradition collide.