Played

Played

Year: 2006

Runtime: 87 mins

Language: English

Director: Sean Stanek

ThrillerCrime

Set against a hostile London underworld, the film follows Ray (Mick Rossi), who has just completed an eight‑year prison term after being framed. Determined to avenge himself, he returns to the streets to confront the ruthless criminals who control the city’s shadowy, despicable underbelly. The story explores the bleak, violent landscape and the moral compromises faced by those who survive within it.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Played (2006)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Played (2006). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Los Angeles, London

The film unfolds across a sunlit Los Angeles underworld and a shadowy London crime scene. LA is the bustling arena for brutality, cover-ups, and quick decisions, while London anchors the plot with crooked cops and street-level scheming. The twin-city setting highlights a transatlantic criminal network and the global reach of the story.

🌆 Urban setting 🗺️ Transatlantic crime backdrop

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:30

Main Characters – Played (2006)

Meet the key characters of Played (2006), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Dillon (Val Kilmer)

A ruthless cleaner for Eddie, Dillon handles cover-ups and cold-blooded tasks with cool efficiency. He torches scenes and disposes of evidence to protect his bosses, yet his calm demeanor hides a calculating, violent streak. He is loyal to the gang's interests and serves as the catalyst that drives the plot forward.

🕶️ Antihero 🧭 Ambiguous Morality

Ray Burns (Mick Rossi)

A small-time thief turned prisoner who seeks vengeance against those who betrayed him eight years earlier. Ray is resourceful, ruthless, and single-minded in pursuing Brice and Riley. His motive-driven actions pull him through a world of double-crosses and lethal confrontations.

🔥 Vengeful 🗝️ Key to the past

Eddie (Gabriel Byrne)

A gangster who hires Dillon and runs a tight, violent operation. Eddie's business interest shapes the danger around every scheme, making him a constant anchor for the criminal activity. He keeps his cards close and understands that loyalty is measured in dollars and silences.

💼 Crime Boss 🗺️ Underworld Ties

Riley (Patrick Bergin)

A ruthless organizer who brings together a crew for the heist and then betrays the others to protect his own position. He is calculating and capable of deception, playing Brice and others against one another. Riley's grappling with the consequences of the job reveals his own vulnerability.

🎯 Strategist 🧠 Calculated

Brice (Vinnie Jones)

A crooked detective who manipulates events from behind the scenes. Brice uses others to cover his tracks and keeps a dangerous eye on Ray and Riley. His scheming sets the blood-red clockwork of the story in motion.

🚨 Crooked Cop 🕵️‍♂️ Manipulative

Jack Rawlings (Roy Dotrice)

Mob boss and father to Terry, Jack exerts quiet, dangerous influence over the city. He pretends concern for Ray while steering revenge from the shadows. His power rests in a combination of charisma and fear.

🧱 Mob Patriarch 🌐 Influence

Cindy (Patsy Kensit)

A former street-level casualty turned ally to Ray, she battles personal demons while offering support. Her relationship with Ray is shaped by trust and survival, against a backdrop of addiction and risk. Cindy's presence anchors some of Ray's more human moments.

🌟 Streetwise 💊 Struggling

Maggie (Joanne Whalley)

Ray's former lover who remains loyal despite the chaos around them. She provides emotional grounding in a world of crime and manipulation, and her involvement in the plot heightens the stakes. Maggie's resilience contrasts with the violence surrounding Ray.

❤️ Love Interest 🕊️ Hope

Samantha Fay (Sile Bermingham)

Ray's ally-turned-adversary in Los Angeles, Samantha gets drawn into the web of tapes and payoffs. Her actions drive the climax as she confronts London Charlie and Brice, adding film's tense, fatal turn. She is modern, strategic, and dangerous.

🗺️ Secretive 🗺️ Secretive

London Charlie (Steve Jones)

A manipulative figure who holds crucial tape and money that could change the balance of power. He stays in the shadows, profiting from the trauma of others while orchestrating the next move. His presence anchors the LA-London power play.

💰 Money Handler 🕵️ Shadowy

Danny (Andy Nyman)

Brice's jittery underling who stumbles into trouble and pays the price for his arrogance. He follows orders with a dangerous sense of entitlement, but his actions reveal the fragility of the criminal chain. His confrontation with Ray crystallizes the final acts.

🧪 Drug-Linked 🔒 Underling

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:30

Major Themes – Played (2006)

Explore the central themes of Played (2006), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🔥 Revenge

Ray Burns endures prison and personal losses only to pursue those who betrayed him eight years earlier. The narrative escalates as past wounds drive present violence, with vendetta shaping every decision. Revenge here is costly and contagious, pulling multiple players into a violent spiral. The resolution hinges on the precise leverage and timing of retribution.

🕵️ Betrayal and Deceit

The crooked detective Brice and his associate Riley orchestrate a narcotics job that fractures trust among partners. Tape recordings and misdirection fuel a web of lies that keeps shifting blame. Even allies turn on each other as the truth remains obscured by manipulation. The film interrogates how truth is manufactured in a criminal empire.

🌐 Global Underworld

Criminal networks span cities and characters move with transatlantic precision, from London to Los Angeles. The story shows how crime bosses, corrupt cops, and hired hitmen cooperate and compete across borders. Loyalties are fluid, and alliances shift with the payoff. The film treats crime as a global marketplace rather than a local affair.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 12:30

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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 Underworld Revenge Stories like Played

Protagonists must navigate a corrupt criminal world to settle old scores.If you liked the tense, revenge-driven journey of Played, explore more movies where characters are pulled back into a hostile criminal underworld. These films share a dark tone, high stakes, and a heavy emotional weight centered on betrayal and retribution, perfect for fans of gritty crime thrillers.

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Narrative Summary

Stories typically begin with a catalyst—a release from prison, a past betrayal coming to light—that forces the protagonist back into a dangerous world. The plot follows their single-minded, often destructive, path of revenge, encountering new threats and uncovering deeper layers of deception. The journey is linear and driven by confrontation, leading to an ambiguous or pyrrhic conclusion.

Why These Movies?

Movies in this thread are grouped by their shared focus on a personal vendetta within a corrupt system. They deliver a similar experience through a dark, cynical tone, steady pacing built on escalating threats, and a heavy emotional core defined by loss and the futility of violence.

Movies about Inescapable Crime Cycles like Played

Stories where characters are trapped in an inescapable cycle of violence and retribution.Fans of Played who appreciated its bleak atmosphere and the feeling of being trapped in a violent cycle will find more like it here. These movies explore the psychological toll of a life of crime, featuring steady pacing, a dark tone, and endings that offer little resolution.

claustrophobicbleakcynicalanxioushopelessfutiletrappedgrim

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern is cyclical rather than linear. The protagonist's attempts to break free or achieve closure only pull them deeper into the same destructive environment. The plot emphasizes the futility of their actions against a larger, corrupt system, resulting in an ending that suggests the cycle is poised to repeat, leaving the character forever changed but not freed.

Why These Movies?

These films are connected by their oppressive, claustrophobic mood and the central theme of entrapment. They share a steady, relentless pacing that mimics the inescapable cycle, a dark tone devoid of hope, and a narrative structure that denies catharsis, creating a cohesive experience of futility and moral decay.

Unlock the Full Story of Played

Don't stop at just watching — explore Played 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 Played is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Played Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Played, 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.

Played Summary

Played Timeline

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

Played Timeline

Played Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Played 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.

Played Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Played

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Played: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About Played

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Discover movies like Played that share similar genres, themes, and storytelling elements. Whether you’re drawn to the atmosphere, character arcs, or plot structure, these curated recommendations will help you explore more films you’ll love.