Harrigan

Harrigan

Year: 2013

Runtime: 97 mins

Language: English

Director: Vince Woods

ActionCrime

Amongst the desperation and fear growing in a crime ridden estate in northern England, one man becomes embroiled into saving what community life exists.

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Timeline & Setting – Harrigan (2013)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Harrigan (2013). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Late 1970s to early 1980s

Set during a period of industrial turmoil in Britain, the film uses power outages and a three-day week-like environment to heighten urban tension. The miners' strike and economic hardship shape the mood, with a battered police service trying to uphold order amid fear. The closed section station and makeshift rebuilding efforts reflect a city in flux.

Location

Hong Kong, Newcastle, Monkshire Estate

The story shifts from Harrigan's hard-won experience in Hong Kong to his home turf in Newcastle, where a house fire killed his daughter. The Monkshire Estate becomes a claustrophobic, crime-ridden battleground that the police struggle to control. The city is hit by power cuts and social unrest during a period of industrial strife, painting a bleak backdrop for Harrigan's pursuit of justice.

🌏 Hong Kong 🏙️ Newcastle 🏚️ Monkshire Estate

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:02

Main Characters – Harrigan (2013)

Meet the key characters of Harrigan (2013), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Detective Sergeant Barry Harrigan (Stephen Tompkinson)

A hard-edged veteran cop driven by personal tragedy. He is relentless, improvisational, and willing to push boundaries to uncover truth and protect the innocent, even as his own moral balance teeters on the edge.

🧭 Relentless 🕵️‍♂️ Veteran cop 💔 Grief-stricken 🛡️ Protector

Cole

A vicious thug who rules the Monkshire Estate through fear. He is brutal, impulsive, and intensely protective of his family's criminal empire.

🗡️ Violent 🧱 Ruthless 🐺 Predatory

Arty Dunstan

The enforcer for Cole, a dangerous figure tied to Harrigan’s daughter's death. He is cunning, ruthless, and adept at intimidation.

🗡️ Enforcer 🪄 Connected to the past 🐍 Cunning

Billy Davidson

Harrigan’s former sergeant who provides wary counsel and ultimately meets a violent fate at the hands of Cole.

🕴️ Ex-sergeant 🧭 Cautious mentor ⚖️ Loyal

Larson

The fastidious acting detective inspector who wants Harrigan to retire quietly and believes in maintaining the status quo, often clashing with Harrigan.

🗯️ Pedantic 🧭 Political 🐍 Manipulative

Supt. Atkins

The superintendent who initially resists but ultimately allows Harrigan to reopen the boarded-up section station, acknowledging the need for action against the estate.

🔎 Bureaucratic 🛡️ Supportive 🗝️ Authority

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:02

Major Themes – Harrigan (2013)

Explore the central themes of Harrigan (2013), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

⚖️ Revenge

Harrigan’s grief over his daughter and the arson that destroyed his home push him toward taking the law into his own hands. The line between lawful pursuit and vigilante justice becomes increasingly blurred as he targets Cole and Dunstan. The film probes whether personal vengeance can ever satisfy a sense of justice without spiraling into chaos.

💔 Grief

The traumatic loss of Harrigan’s daughter haunts him throughout the investigation. His wife’s earlier death compounds the weight he carries, shaping his relentless drive. Grief becomes a catalyst that both fuels his courage and threatens his ability to remain objective.

🕳️ Corruption

The Monkshire Estate is controlled by violent criminals who exploit fear to maintain power. Harrigan faces a system that seems to want him to retire quietly, with Larson manipulating the situation to keep him off balance. The clash reveals how corruption can undermine law and order from within the ranks.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:02

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Gritty urban crime thrillers like Harrigan

A lone protagonist battles systemic corruption and decay in a broken community.If you liked the grim determination and community struggle in Harrigan, explore more movies like it. This thread features tense, emotionally heavy crime stories set in decaying urban environments, where a determined hero takes a stand against corruption.

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Narrative Summary

Stories typically follow a linear, investigation-driven plot where the protagonist's personal vendetta or sense of duty uncovers a larger web of systemic crime. The journey is one of dogged persistence through a morally grey world, often culminating in a violent, high-stakes confrontation that offers a hard-won, bittersweet resolution.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped by their shared dark tone, high emotional intensity, and focus on a gritty, realistic crime setting. They deliver a similar viewing experience of tense, character-driven drama centered on a struggle for justice within an oppressive atmosphere.

Movies about grief and vengeance like Harrigan

A character's quest for justice is fueled by personal tragedy, leading to a costly resolution.For viewers who appreciated the heavy emotional weight and personal vendetta in Harrigan. This collection features films where a protagonist's journey is motivated by profound grief, leading to a tense and morally complex quest for justice with a bittersweet conclusion.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern begins with a traumatic inciting event that establishes the emotional stakes. The plot then follows the protagonist's single-minded, often self-destructive pursuit of retribution. The climax involves a significant confrontation that provides catharsis but rarely pure victory, leaving the character and audience with a sense of poignant, hard-edged closure.

Why These Movies?

These movies share a heavy emotional weight centered on grief and loss, a dark tone, and a specific character arc of a vengeance-driven quest. The similarity lies in the powerful emotional catalyst and the resulting narrative of determined, costly justice.

Unlock the Full Story of Harrigan

Don't stop at just watching — explore Harrigan in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Harrigan is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Harrigan Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Harrigan, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Harrigan Summary

Harrigan Timeline

Track the full timeline of Harrigan with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Harrigan Timeline

Harrigan Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Harrigan that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

Harrigan Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Harrigan

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