Laws of Man

In the end, Frank and Tommy face off in a hidden missile silo, where they discover that their enemies, Bonnie and his conspirators, are part of a dangerous scheme to start a nuclear war. Bonnie, working with corrupt government officials and Soviet engineers, aimed to attack Los Angeles and blame it on the Soviets, using the chaos to incite global conflict. During the tense climax, a Soviet engineer reveals he has built a fail-safe device that can destroy the missile’s fuel, preventing the launch but killing everyone in the silo. As Tommy fights to survive and Frank confronts Armstrong, who reveals his twisted patriotism—believing that orchestrating a war with Russia would unify America and justify nuking the USSR—the engineer activates the fail-safe, starting a countdown to destruction. In these final moments, Frank escapes with Tommy, badly wounded, while the preacher appears once more to guide Frank on his spiritual journey, drawing a biblical parallel to Jacob wrestling an angel. The silo explodes, stopping the conspiracy but at great personal and moral cost. Frank’s struggle is not just against the villains but within himself, challenging his beliefs about justice and morality. His victory prevents a nuclear catastrophe but exposes the corruption hidden within the government and military high-ups, leaving him forever changed. The story suggests that true justice may require sacrifice and moral courage beyond the letter of the law, especially when the system itself is broken. The biblical references to Gilead symbolize Frank’s transformation—his painful journey from innocence to understanding—that morality and justice often demand personal suffering. While he managed to stop a war, the larger corrupt system remains intact, leaving the ending bittersweet. Frank’s personal victory underscores that sometimes, justice isn’t about following rules but about doing what is morally right, even if it costs everything. The film concludes with the idea that higher laws—those rooted in conscience and morality—must sometimes take precedence over human laws, especially when those laws are compromised. In the aftermath, Frank is forever changed, carrying the weight of what he’s seen and done; he has achieved a personal Gilead, a place of moral rebirth, but the broader world’s darkness endures.

Last Updated: June 13, 2025 at 08:21