The Hit 1985

London gangster Willie Parker agrees to testify against his criminal partners in exchange for a very generous offer from the police. As he steps out of the witness box at his trial, the defendants threaten and sing the Vera Lynn classic We’ll Meet Again, a haunting echo of the price he paid for his cooperation. Ten years pass, and Parker is living a comfortable retirement in Spain. His world is upended when four Spanish youths kidnap him and hand him over to a weary British hit man, Braddock, and his sharp, volatile young apprentice, Myron, hired by the crime boss Parker helped convict. The kidnapping goes awry when the youths crash into a local policeman assigned to guard Parker, and three of them are killed by a bomb hidden in a briefcase they believe contains their payment. Braddock is seasoned, world-weary, and unshakeable, while Myron brings a restless energy and a touch of menace to every move he makes. Parker, for his part, maintains a carefree air, insisting that death is simply a stage in life he has learned to accept after a decade of living with the threat hanging over him.

Braddock assigns Myron to drive them to an Madrid apartment, only to discover the owner is away and the place is occupied by an acquaintance. The occupant is Harry, a middle‑aged Australian with a young, non‑English speaking Spanish girlfriend named Maggie who comes home while they’re talking. Parker deliberately reveals his identity to them, prompting Braddock to take Maggie as insurance. Harry hands over the keys to the owner’s white Mercedes, but Braddock’s suspicion about Harry’s willingness to stay quiet drives him back upstairs to confront him—and he kills Harry.

With the group bound for the French border in hopes of reaching Paris where the crime boss supposedly waits, Parker quietly sows seeds of discord between Braddock and Myron. Unbeknownst to them, the Spanish police, led by a seasoned inspector, begin tracing the trail of bodies. At a roadside bar, Myron lashes out at four youths who laugh at him, revealing the tension that exists beneath his cheerful veneer. He also begins to feel protective of Maggie, and a tense confrontation with her deepens the cracks in the group dynamic. Maggie, who clearly understands English, speaks with Braddock and bites his hand, an act that seems to thrill Braddock with a strange, masochistic pleasure.

The trio drives to a track that climbs into woodland by a river, where they pause to rest. Braddock leaves Myron with Parker and takes Maggie to refill the car’s petrol. Maggie tries to alert the station attendant to her plight, forcing Braddock to kill the attendant. He pursues Maggie, but either cannot or will not shoot her. When they return, Parker has slipped away while Myron dozes, watching him by a waterfall. Parker declares that he is not afraid of death, insisting it is merely part of life’s journey.

The next day, Braddock halts the car on a remote hillside, ten miles from the border, and reveals that Paris is no longer part of the plan. He disarms Myron, tossing his gun into the scrub, and Parker, terrified, begs to reach Paris before he dies. Braddock shoots Parker in the back as he tries to run, then turns the gun on Myron and kills him as Maggie looks on. In a desperate struggle, Maggie knocks Braddock unconscious, leaving him alive but vulnerable. Braddock then drives away, changes into hiking clothes, and disappears into the forest.

When the police finally catch up, Maggie identifies Braddock, and he is shot as he tries to cross the border on foot. The dying killer’s last gesture is a sly wink at Maggie as the authorities close in, a final, cryptic note to a chase that has threaded through loyalty, fear, and the lure of Paris.