Mr. Arkadin

In the film's frame narrative, Stratten, a small-time American smuggler in Europe, visits Jakob Zouk to warn him that someone intends to kill him. Zouk is terminally ill and receives the warning with apathy. Stratten explains his personal reasons for wanting to keep Zouk alive, and the story unfolds through flashbacks.

Stratten's story begins in Naples, where a tip points to Arkadin's dark past surrounding a woman named Sophie. He weighs his options for using this information to advance his own interests. He enlists his partner Mily to join the plan.

Stratten and Mily travel to Arkadin's castle in Spain, hoping to leverage the secret for blackmail. They befriend Arkadin's daughter Raina, the only one Arkadin seems emotionally attached to. This friendship helps them secure an invitation into the fortress.

Arkadin, aware of Stratten and Mily's interests and their criminal past, offers to pay for information about his own past, which he cannot remember. He recounts waking in 1927 in a Swiss square with money but no memory. He rebuilt his life while seeking answers about his origin.

Arkadin takes Mily on a yacht cruise, while Stratten roams the world searching for clues. He maintains contact with Raina, and a romance blossoms between Stratten and Raina, which irritates Arkadin. The paths diverge as personal desires clash with the investigation.

From interviews with a flea circus proprietor, a junk-shop owner, and other witnesses, Stratten learns about Arkadin's pre-1927 life and involvement in a Warsaw sex-trafficking ring. The testimonies begin to stitch together Arkadin's hidden past. The disturbing details deepen the mystery surrounding his amnesia.

Sophie, the former leader of the trafficking ring, is introduced as Arkadin's former girlfriend who remembers him with fondness. She shows no intention of publicizing his past. Her attitude complicates the moral calculus of Stratten's mission.

Stratten discovers Arkadin has been tailing him and visiting witnesses. Raina interrupts with a startling claim that her father does not have amnesia and that the entire setup may be a ruse. This revelation reframes Stratten's role from investigator to participant in a trap.

At Arkadin's Christmas Eve party in Munich, Stratten learns the true purpose of his mission: Arkadin has been covering up his past and using witnesses who have been murdered. Mily is dead and Stratten has been framed for her murder. The party becomes a culmination of the concealment and peril surrounding Arkadin.

Stratten's search for Zouk leads to Arkadin tracing him to use force against the last survivor, who is murdered. Zouk is stabbed to death as Arkadin tightens his net. The consequences of the past begin to close in on Stratten.

Stratten buys the last seat on a plane to Barcelona, hoping to reveal Arkadin's secret to Raina. Arkadin pursues him in a private plane, turning the chase into a high-stakes flight. The confrontation reaches a dangerous altitude.

At the airport, Stratten and Raina connect and she is summoned to speak with her father by radio. Stratten convinces her to say 'it's too late,' a lie designed to crush Arkadin's spirit. The deception becomes the final blow in Arkadin's psychological warfare.

Overwhelmed by the lie and the collapse of his plans, Arkadin leaps to his death from the private plane. The act marks the tragic end of his pursuit of control and memory. The past he sought to bury finally claims him.

Raina cannot condemn Stratten for the tragedy, but their romance is over. She arranges for an old boyfriend to drive her away from the airport, leaving Stratten alone with the consequences of his choices. The pursuit ends with a solitary, unsettled future for both.