Welcome back to Movie Recaps.
Today I will show you a thriller film from 2018, titled Traffik.
Spoilers ahead!
Watch out and take care.
The beginning sequence of the film happens in a nightclub, where a young woman can be
seen dancing.
A man is watching her dance from the bar, then he approaches her.
In the next shot, the girl is chained on a wall begging for help when someone opens the
doors to the place where she's being kept.
Brea is an investigative journalist, currently working on a big piece that has taken her
months to prepare.
One day she gets a call from a colleague that her piece has been stolen by one of her co-workers
at the newspaper where she works.
The journalist goes to confront her boss about it, right in front of the co-worker that stole
the story, but instead of getting her point across she gets fired on the spot.
Furthermore, her boss tells her that she doesn't understand how the news cycle and media work,
that she takes too long to write her articles.
That day also happens to be her birthday so, at dinner time, she, her boyfriend, John,
and two of their friends, Darren and Malia celebrate at a restaurant.
Darren gets up for a moment to take an important call with a client when Brea tells the other
two that she might have lost her job.
John is a little apprehensive because she didn't tell him earlier, but she didn't think
it was the right time.
Darren comes back to the table and orders shots when he hears about Brea's job to try
to comfort her.
He makes it worse, however, when he blabs about the secret plans he helped John make
for her birthday.
Malia can't stop him from talking and John gets angry because he spoils the surprise
that he will take her to a nice place up in the mountains for a few days as her gift.
The girls go to the lady's room so John confronts Darren for telling her the secret because
he wants to ask her to marry him and needs everything to go as planned.
Meanwhile, Brea figures it out, but she doesn't feel as excited as John because she's not
sure about what she wants.
Malia tells her to think about it since John is a good guy who cares about her, not like
Darren.
During that night Brea and John talk about their relationship and her future, how she
feels about her job and how they feel about each other.
The following morning, John gifts Brea a car that he rebuilt himself from the ground up.
They kiss and embrace and in the next shot, they're already traveling towards the mountains
for her birthday getaway in Brea's new car.
Their drive toward the mountains is chill and happy until they reach a gas station where
Brea wants to pick up some stuff for the night.
They stop there and John waits for her to get what she needs from inside the store.
As Brea walks to the store, a shady guy, Red, notices her passing by his car, hanging up
his phone and planning to follow her inside.
Inside the store, while Brea is having fun trying on different hats, a suspicious-looking
girl watches her.
Then Red walks in and bumps into Brea, spilling her drink all over her.
They both shower each other with niceties, apologizing, then Brea leaves all the things
she's buying at the counter and looks for the ladies' room to clean herself up.
A biker dude lugs creepily in front of the washrooms blocking the way with Brea barely
passing by him.
As John waits for her outside, he gets the engagement rig out, thinking about the proposal.
Brea cleans herself up and gets startled by the girl from before when the man waiting
outside tells her to hurry.
The two women have an awkward moment together because Brea clearly thinks that the girl
might be in some kind of trouble by the way she looks and behaves.
She tries to tell Brea something, when the man comes in and tells her to get out of the
washroom instantly, giving her only a second more inside.
The girl has trouble expressing what she really wants to say so she just tells Brea that it
feels a lot like the 4th of July, leaving Brea speechless as the man comes in and drags
her out.
Meanwhile, another biker dude walks over to the car and starts a conversation with John,
who's a little bit nervous.
The guy comments on the car, making progressively more racist comments so John tells him that
he doesn't want any trouble.
Ironically, the guy gets mad because he thinks John is being intolerant for the way that
he looks and John doesn't say anything because he's clearly dealing with someone very difficult
to communicate with.
The dude gets angrier and spits on the car so John loses his temper and punches him,
prompting his two little biker friends to walk over, just as Brea is coming back to
the car.
Fortunately, the county sheriff drives over in time to stop a bigger fight.
She knows the bikers and warns them not to make any trouble, just as she's told them
before.
The dudes retreat but aren't too happy about it.
The sheriff apologizes to John and Brea, then asks them where they're going and upon learning,
wishes them a nice time at the place.
The bikers laugh as the couple drives away and tell the sheriff not to worry because
they promise to be good, even though they're clearly not going to be.
On the drive up the road toward the place, they'll be staying, John and Brea talk about
what happened in the station and she explains the weird situation with the girl in the washroom.
Brea thinks that she was asking for help, but John thinks that it's good that she didn't
get involved in her business.
Suddenly, a biker appears behind them and Brea freaks out a little thinking that it's
one of the guys from the station following and taunting them.
And she's right, as can be seen when the biker drives up to them and hits their car, saying
that there are no cops to save them now.
John punches on the gas, but the dude just keeps following them, so he gets an idea of
how to get rid of him.
As they drive he turns the car, stopping to a dead halt, and manages to push the guy of
his bike.
They continue to drive as he curses them off, commenting about how crazy everything was.
Meanwhile back at the gas station, Red and the bikers meet and he's mad at them for causing
trouble because they have a big deal that's happening soon and nothing should interfere
with that.
He seems to be the only dude these guys are afraid of.
Red sends the trucker to get the merchandise to their contacts.
John and Brea arrive at the beautiful house they'll be staying at just as the sun is going
down.
She's super happy about it, saying how amazing it is, and runs inside to check out the inside
of the house.
They get comfortable fast and Brea takes a dip in the pool at sunset.
John and Brea have fun and get intimate in the pool, then have a cozy night beside it.
He gets ready to propose to her and tells her that he loves her when they hear a car
coming.
John goes out to check and because he doesn't come back instantly, Brea checks too.
Suddenly, Darren shows up, catching her in the middle of the room in her underwear.
She doesn't know what he's doing there and John walks in, mad at him for interrupting
their getaway.
Malia comes in after him and gets super angry at Darren as well because he told her that
John said it would be ok if they joined them there.
Brea calms her down, saying that it's alright and that she's happy to see them, so the girls
walk out of the room.
The men argue because John still didn't get the chance to propose to Brea before they
came to the house.
John thanks him for hooking them up with the house and Darren shows some tact, saying that
he'll give him some privacy with Brea the next day and take Malia into the town.
Later that night, the friends have take-out dinner, talking about what happened to John
and Brea at the gas station.
At one point they hear a phone ringing, thinking it's Brea's since the ring is coming from
her purse.
They're all confused about how a phone could get reception out there.
Brea knows it's not her phone so she checks everywhere around her purse, but when she
doesn't find anything, she looks inside as well only to find a weird satellite phone
inside.
Brea doesn't understand how the phone could get inside there and wonders if anyone had
gotten inside the house.
However, she remembers that she left the girl from the gas station alone with her purse
at one point.
Brea suddenly starts thinking that she might have left the phone inside and that weird
4th of July comment might have been the password to it.
So she tries different versions of the date and none work until the others begin joining
in on the code-cracking and figure it out together.
One of the variants works and Brea can unlock the phone.
However, when she goes through the caller list, all the names on it look like country
codes.
Darren tells her to go through the photos to see whose phone it is.
When Brea opens the gallery, they see a bunch of strange photos from beat-up women, including
the girl from the station.
She tells the others about her as she keeps scrolling through the gallery when John realizes
that the women are all posing in the same way, like they're being cataloged.
Brea says that maybe the women are being sold and that it looks like human trafficking to
her.
Darren says that it makes sense to him too since it's the second-largest black market
business after arms dealing.
John agrees with their theory and Malia says that if they think it's the case they have
to call the police.
Everyone, except Darren, agrees.
He says that the house is a corporate one and that if they call the police, it will
create a bunch of problems for him with his clients.
Brea still wants to call so he confronts her saying that she's just doing it to scoop the
story and get her job as a journalist back.
They begin to argue and the whole conversation spins out of control, becoming about more
than calling the police like that's what's important the moment you find a phone of a
human trafficker.
Malia gets really upset and decides to leave the house, so she goes to pack.
Brea calls the police from the landline as Darren and Malia argue about their own problems
because she's done with all of his shenanigans.
She leaves the house and he doesn't go after her.
In the meantime, John and Brea have a little moment, but work it out fast.
Darren comes back in the room to tell them Malia is gone so he and John talk about it
outside.
Brea looks over the satellite phone, taking pictures of the pictures and jotting down
the names of the callers.
She notices that her phone fits the satellite case and has some kind of dilemma when the
doorbell rings.
Brea goes to open the door, thinking it's the police, but she finds the girl from the
station waiting in front so she calls for John.
She opens the door and the woman tells her that she put her phone in Brea's purse, so
Brea tells her that she found it.
Then, Brea asks her how she knew where to find her and the woman asks about the phone
again.
Brea tells her to come inside and call her family or anyone that might be worried for
her, but the woman just laughs and says that they'll kill them.
Brea says that she saw everything on the phone and that she can't return it to her so the
woman gets upset and runs away with Brea and the rest running after her.
When they go outside, the woman runs up to Red and tells him that Brea won't give her
the phone so he cold-heartedly shoots her on the spot.
The friends are surprised and freaked out, so when Red tells them that he wants his phone
back, Darren tries to reason with him before he does anything.
He says that only Brea knows where the phone is and that he should let them go back to
the house to get it for him so no one gets hurt.
They run inside the house and Darren looks for his gun as Brea tries the police again,
but can't reach them because the landline is down.
Once she realizes what Darren is doing, she tells him that he won't be getting the phone,
even though he insists.
John thinks that they should just wait it out until the cops arrive, but Darren says
that the men will just shoot their way in before the cops come.
The phone rings again and Brea realizes that they've tracked them there with the phone
because the ringer is from the tracker and not an actual call.
Darren gets more upset and points the gun at them to give them the phone, threatening
Brea that if she doesn't hand it over, John will die.
Brea says that if he does that the men will just kill them all, but Darren won't have
it and John convinces her to give him the phone.
Darren tells them to stay inside while he negotiates with the men so the two of them
go to find a spot in the house from which they can see what's happening outside.
Once he walks out, he realizes that the men have Malia as well.
Darren walks up to them and apologizes, saying that he'll give them the phone back, but they
have to return Malia first, like he's in a position to negotiate with these people.
Meanwhile, John and Brea go to the garage and try lifting the door so they can escape.
John lifts the door for Brea while she goes outside to find something to wedge it and
he can escape too.
Darren gives Red the phone back and tells him that the others escaped already, begging
him to get Malia back to him.
However, Red sees that the phone's been unlocked and isn't willing to negotiate anymore so
Darren pulls out the gun, only to get beat up and then shot by the biker gang.
Brea sees it happening, then the men breaking into the house.
John can hear them coming inside and simultaneously, Red hears Brea in the distance.
She finds a piece of wood to lodge into the door and helps John get out before one of
the bikers can get to him or shoot him.
John and Brea run out of the house and into the forest with Red on their tail, who sends
his men after them.
They keep hearing the phone beeping and shooting after the couple, but they hide behind a tree.
Red yells after them saying that he'll find them.
One of the bikers suddenly finds them and struggles with John, trying to stab him, but
Brea beats him to a pulp with a log.
They run away through the forest and reach a house so they ask the man to let them use
his phone and his computer.
While John is calling the police, Brea uploads the photos to her boss in an email with an
explanation about what's happening.
She tells her boss to call the state police and the FBI as well.
As the files are uploading, John steals the man's car keys, and the bikers surround the
house.
Suddenly, they shoot their way in, killing the man.
John jumps one and they struggle for the gun, but the man shoots him.
Brea stabs him to get him off of John so he can shoot the man with his own gun.
She tells him that she sent her boss the photos and that they have to go, but John knows that
he will die and uses his last breath to tell her that he took the car keys.
John says that she needs to take them and get to safety, then he perishes.
Brea realizes there is nothing she can do for John so she takes the keys and finds the
ring with them.
She puts it in her hand, kisses him one last time, and runs to the car.
It won't start, but it makes enough noise to let the men know where she is.
They shoot the car and after a brief struggle, they drag her out.
The police arrive at the scene suddenly as Red holds Brea down and she thinks she's saved.
But, when the sheriff gets close to Red, she turns around and shoots the deputy.
She's pissed at Red for making a mess out of the whole situation and tells him to deal
with it and with Brea.
Red tells the sheriff he'll fix it and they drag Brea away.
The sheriff gets in the car and makes a false report that John and Brea are the ones that
killed everyone.
The men take Brea to a truck, sedate her and get her inside with the rest of the girls.
The truck rolls out and moves the women so the next time Brea wakes up, she finds herself
in some kind of abandoned mine.
She gets herself together and sees a nail on the ground.
Meanwhile, the sheriff is making it look like John and Brea killed her partner as well,
pinning everything to them.
Brea sees Malia together with all the other women held in the abandoned mine.
Malia is badly beaten, but she just asks about Darren and John, crying when she learns the
truth.
Suddenly, the men come back to the women and Brea gets the nail she saw.
One of them goes to sedate the other, while Red toys with Brea, kissing her, saying he'll
keep her for himself.
He even takes her ring and when he goes to touch her, Brea stabs him with the nail and
kills him with a rock.
The other one grabs her when he sees what she's done and struggles with her, trying
to strangle her.
Malia sees the sedatives on the ground and injects him in the neck twice until he lets
go of Brea.
She tells Brea to run for help because she can't walk.
Brea gets out of the mine and into the forest, soon realizing that she's still at the same
mountain, seeing the gas station just below.
She still walks in and asks for the cashier to call the police, knowing that the sheriff
will come.
Brea steals the cashier's cell and calls her boss to make sure that she'll get the help
she needs.
She goes to the washroom to clean herself up while she waits for the sheriff and the
others to come.
When the sheriff comes to the station she finds Brea and they have a mini standoff in
front of the security cameras.
Brea asks her if she wants to kill her unarmed in front of a camera, convincing her to take
her outside.
The sheriff cuffs Brea and as soon as she takes her out of the door they are met with
a cordon of cops, state police, and FBI because Brea's boss came true on his word to help.
The sheriff gets arrested and Brea is taken care of by the paramedics.
As she sits in front of the gas station, the other girls come out of the mine and are found
by the FBI.
Malia is saved as well.
In the last moments of the film, Brea talks to her boss, confirming that she has all the
evidence corroborated by the victims for her story about the trafficking ring.
He asks her if she's sure she wants to go through with it because a lot of powerful
people will be coming after her.
Brea stands up and confidently says "let them come".
It is estimated there are 1.9 million women being trafficked in the United States.
Worldwide, 21 million victims of human trafficking generate illegal profits each year of 150
billion dollars.