Share
Clip description
Ray (David Roberts) goes to meet Billy (Joel Edgerton) in the men’s restroom of the same Chinese restaurant where he hired him to burn down Carla and Greg’s house. Billy jumps on him and points a gun at his head. Ray gives Billy only half of the agreed payment, explaining that he had rung him to call off the job (we saw earlier that Billy had left his mobile behind so he didn’t get the message). Billy gives him a week to get the rest of the money. Billy tells Ray that he knows how to find him. He pistol whips Ray and walks out.
Curator’s notes
This is the point where Ray realises that not only is he responsible for another person’s death but that his own life is now in danger. It’s a good example of the way the narrative maintains its grip on viewers by intensifying the pressure on the story’s protagonist.
The start of the scene is a visual echo of the earlier scene where Billy crept into the house to set the fire. The locations are different but the camera set-ups are almost identical. This creates a subliminal connection between the death scene and Ray’s meeting with the man who now might kill him.
