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Directed by Adam Cooper, “Sleeping Dogs” (2024) is an investigative mystery thriller that follows a former detective who is roped back into an old case he worked on decades ago. The script, written by Cooper with Bill Collage, follows the detective’s anguish as he tries to grapple with his memory loss. Through his new discoveries, he realizes some buried secrets that shake him to his core. Russell Crowe stars in the lead role as Ex-Detective Roy Freeman. Besides him, the cast includes Tommy Flanagan, Marton Csokas, Karen Gillan, Thomas M. Wright, Harry Greenwood, and Pacharo Mzembe in the central roles.
Spoilers ahead.
Sleeping Dogs (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What is ‘Sleeping Dogs’ about?
“Sleeping Dogs” is a crime mystery thriller that follows an ex-homicide detective who suffers from memory loss issues. One day, he suddenly gets pulled back into his decades-old case to save an innocent man from a life-threatening punishment. It leads him to discover some horrifying secrets from his past. This film is director Adam Cooper’s feature-length film directorial debut. It is based on the 2017 novel The Book of Mirrors by E.O. Chirovici.
What happens in ‘Sleeping Dogs’?
Adam Cooper’s “Sleeping Dogs” follows Roy Freeman (Russell Crowe), an ex-homicide detective who has a spotty memory. After years of service, he has not retired and spends most of his time in bed, making notes of things to recall them later. One day, he receives a call from Emily Dietz (Kelly Greyson), who works with Clean Hands Projects and advocates for inmates who have been disenfranchised by the system. She requests his time to speak about an old case he worked on. Roy agrees to meet her.
Emily asks him about the case of Isaac Samuel (Pacharo Mzembe), who is scheduled to die in the coming month by a lethal injection. She contacts Roy because Isaac wants to speak with him about the time of his confession. Roy wonders why. Back home, he looks at his box of evidence in the said case and gathers a few memories of that dreadful event. At the time, Dr Joseph Wieder (Marton Csokas) was killed, and Isaac was charged with the case of murder due to his presence near the scene of the crime.
What does Isaac want to tell Roy?
Isaac wants to tell Roy about his confession in Joseph’s case. He notes that he lied, being guilty under pressure. Isaac admits he made some bad decisions in the past but refuses the blame for murdering Joseph. He recalls breaking into Joseph’s house for another motive. So, he was there on the night of the murder. However, after Joe’s death, he recalls being forced into confession by Roy’s partner at work, Jimmy Remis (Tommy Flanagan). Jimmy showed the gruesome photos of Joe’s dead body, which terrified young Jimmy. So, he confessed to the crime despite being innocent.
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After his conversation with Isaac, Roy goes to meet Jimmy at his place. They talk about how they’re doing in the present. Jimmy reveals his wife died of cancer. Roy talks about his issues with memory. Then, he mentions Isaac’s case and his recent meeting. Roy wonders why they did not check into the records of their other suspect, Richard Finn (Harry Greenwood), whose fingerprints were all over in Joe’s house. Jimmy says he will look into this matter and speak with his friends currently in service.
What does Roy learn about Richard Finn?
After he meets with Jimmy, Roy learns of Richard’s sudden death. He recalls a fleeting memory of Richard being outside Joe’s house on the day after his murder. At the time, Richard said that he was home alone. Roy wonders why they didn’t look into Richard’s involvement any further. He meets Richard’s family members at his funeral to learn that he was addicted to drugs and was distant from them. Roy receives a manuscript that Richard has been writing for a while. It involved details from his time with Joseph Wieder and the woman he loved, Laura Baines (Karen Gillan).
What is in Richard Finn’s manuscript?
Richard Finn’s manuscript included his memories from his years of youth. He speaks about his first meeting with Laura when he was charmed by her knowledge and expertise in various fields. At this gathering, she had come with Joseph Wieder, whom she was collaborating with for her thesis. Afterward, Richard had sexual encounters with her. Yet, he felt cuckolded by the presence of Joseph, who began to consume most of Laura’s time. During dinner, he learns about the core of Joe’s research – a solution to forget painful traumas from one’s past and eliminate their influence on one’s future.
Shortly after, Richard realized that Joe died. That is why Roy remembers seeing Richard at the scene of the crime. After Joe’s death, Laura learned she wouldn’t get any credit for her research with Joe, which made her furious. After this incident, she vanished for the likes of Richard. Although Jimmy isn’t interested in digging into this case any further, Roy is. So, he goes to meet Richard’s widow. She recalls a heated conversation Richard had with a woman and thinks this woman killed him. So, Roy looks into the online records of Elizabeth Westlake and realises that she is Laura.
Who is Elizabeth Westlake?
Roy reads about Elizabeth Westlake and then goes to meet her in person. To his surprise, she instantly recognizes him. But he can only recall some flashes of memories when he met her in the past. Now, he learns that Richard Finn had stalked Elizabeth/Laura and made her feel unsafe. Alas, he gives her Richard’s manuscript and leaves. Then, he receives an update on his recent search request. It brings him to meet Wayne Devereaux (Thomas M Wright). Before his death, Joe offered Wayne a solution to fade the painful memories from his years of service.
Joe’s solution worked for Wayne, but only for a short while. After that, Wayne mentions that Laura had an enigmatic aura. Because of it, no one really knew her. However, Joe had a mischievous habit of recording his sexual encounters with different women on tape. Before Joe’s death, he, Richard, and Laura had gotten into a heated argument. After his conversation with Roy, Wayne calls someone and mentions that Roy has returned home. Roy goes through some old documents and finds some shocking discrepancies. Some of them were signed just by Jimmy, and not him.
Sleeping Dogs (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
After Roy’s meeting with Wayne, Elizabeth/Laura arrives at his house to return the manuscript. She refutes the notion that she and Richard were in love. Besides, she notes her dissatisfaction with not getting credit for her research with Joe after Joe’s sudden death. After their meeting, someone attempts to kill Roy but ends up killing themselves. Roy learns that the contract killer was Wayne Devereaux. He finds it strange that Richard and Wayne died soon after he started looking into their records.
Based on his fractured memories, Roy goes to a bar that he used to visit in the past. He asks the current bartender for some cursory details. Then, he goes to Joe’s house to look around for any clues. He finds a buried baseball bat buried in the garden. Right when Roy digs it up, Elizabeth/Laura shows up there, followed by Jimmy. They start explaining their connection to Joe’s murder. After his death, Laura changed her name and decided to start afresh to distance herself from it.
Who killed Dr Joseph Wieder?
After Elizabeth/Laura got Richard’s manuscript, she realized that Wayne would be implicated. So, she decided to do anything to protect herself and her legacy. Based on that, Jimmy understands her connection to Richard and Wayne’s death. So, he explains it to Roy. In the middle of their conversation, Elizabeth/Laura shoots Jimmy. Then, he shoots her back. Before taking his last breath, Jimmy says he did everything for Roy’s good. So, after Jimmy’s unfortunate death, Roy starts looking into the case and finds the shocking truth.
Roy recalls Wayne mentioning bartender Diane as one of Joe’s sexual exploits. He realizes that Diane is his ex-wife. Back then, Laura informed him that Diane met Joe to get rid of her painful memories of her alcoholic father. But Joe took advantage of her and got her on tape. Roy watched that recording and got furious. That’s why he decided to kill Dr. Joseph Wieder. After Joe’s gruesome murder, Jimmy helped Roy from facing any repercussions. Yet, because of Roy’s impulsive reaction, a black man had to spend many years of his life, who was innocent in the case of Joe’s murder.
