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Six Shooter (2004) movie poster

Timeline

Six Shooter (2004) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2004 · 27 mins · English
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Directed by
Martin McDonagh
Starring
Domhnall Gleeson, Brendan Gleeson, David Wilmot, David Pearse, Gary Lydon, Rúaidhrí Conroy

A darkly comic Irish short where grieving widower Donnelly boards a train home with a volatile youngster known only as the Kid. As the Kid’s agitation and profanity rise, the ride turns brutal, endangering Donnelly and the fellow passengers. The film won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Live‑Action Short Film.

Drama Comedy Crime Cast, crew & box office
On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (14)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Six Shooter
  6. 6 Every angle
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14 events in order · contains spoilers

Six Shooter Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Six Shooter (2004) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Wife dies in hospital

    A doctor informs Donnelly that his wife died at 3 o'clock that morning. He is brought to her bedside as the hospital is unusually busy due to cot deaths and a case of a boy who shot his mother. Before leaving, Donnelly gives his wife a photo of David, their pet rabbit.

    When
    3:00 AM
    Where
    Hospital

  2. Return journey begins: first encounter on the train

    On the train home, Donnelly sits opposite a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking young man. He tolerates the kid and engages in a bland, banal conversation, while a couple across the aisle are less forgiving of the boy's abrasive manner. The stares and tension hint at the darker events to come.

    Where
    Train carriage

  3. Revealing the couple's loss

    Donnelly learns that the couple's son is one of the infants who died. Donnelly's conversation with the boy turns heavy as the tragedy of infant death is referenced, casting a pall over the journey.

    Where
    Train carriage

  4. Tea exchange and the boy's cruelty

    The boy returns with tea but refuses Donnelly's money. Donnelly tells the kid about the couple's loss, and the boy responds with a cruel theory about how parents kill their children.

    Where
    Train carriage

  5. Rising tension between the boy and the father

    The couple reappears and the tension nearly erupts into a fight between the boy and the husband. Donnelly steps in to mediate, trying to keep the peace as the atmosphere becomes threatening.

    Where
    Train carriage

  6. Torn photo and the wife's retreat

    The wife looks at a picture of her baby; the boy quips it resembles a Bronski Beat member. The woman steps on a table to escape, tears the photo, and leaves the car; later, the torn picture is found on the floor near an open exterior door.

    Where
    Train carriage

  7. The wife jumps from the train

    Returning to the passenger car, the boy casually tells the husband that his wife has jumped off the train. The husband initially laughs it off as a sick joke, but Donnelly notices blood on the window and triggers the emergency stop.

    Where
    Train

  8. Police interrogation and the chase widens

    A policeman questions Donnelly and the boy and suspects the boy's involvement. As the train departs, the officer sees the boy waving goodbye and orders the train to be stopped and guns drawn.

    Where
    Train

  9. A grim confession on grief and disbelief

    On the return leg, the boy boasts that his mother was murdered last night and says he is not mourning. Donnelly tells the boy his own wife has died and breaks down, admitting he has lost faith in God.

    Where
    Train carriage

  10. The boy's 'true' story and the violence that follows

    The boy offers a bizarre 'true' story about a cow with trapped wind, which makes Donnelly cannot help but laugh. The mood shifts as the boy's menace becomes undeniable.

    Where
    Train carriage

  11. The matricide on the horizon

    Noting armed police everywhere, Donnelly realizes the boy orchestrated the matricide. The boy draws two revolvers and opens fire on the police, mortally wounding himself in the exchange.

    Where
    On the train approaching Donnelly's stop

  12. Donnelly takes the gun and grieves

    Donnelly crawls to the boy and hears his last words, expressing regrets that he did not hit any policemen. He takes one of the six shooters and hides it in his coat as a grim keepsake.

    Where
    Train

  13. Homecoming and a grim resolve

    Back home, Donnelly examines the gun and finds it contains two bullets. He contemplates shooting himself, but a scratching sound leads him to David the rabbit, a brief moment before he returns to the gun.

    Where
    Home

  14. Final reckoning

    He blows the rabbit's head off and, then, with the last bullet fired from the weapon, he sits with the smoking gun, the dead rabbit, and his wife's photo. He sighs, looking skyward, and mutters, Oh Jesus. What a fuckin' day!

    Where
    Home

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 15:08

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Timeline questions answered

Six Shooter Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Six Shooter (2004): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does the woman jump off the train?

The woman jumps after the Kid cruelly mocks the photo of her dead baby, saying the child resembles a member of Bronski Beat. Humiliated and devastated, she flees the carriage and leaps from the moving train.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the couple reveals their infant son is one of the cot deaths mentioned by the doctor, establishing the weight of their loss.

  • woman jumps train
  • kid mocks baby photo
  • bronski beat comment
Q2

Why is the Kid wanted by the police?

The Kid reveals that his own mother was murdered the previous night. When Donnelly notices armed police on the platform at his stop, he realizes the Kid is the murderer the doctor mentioned earlier, a case of matricide.

Foreshadowing: The doctor mentioned a tragic case where a boy 'shot the poor head off her' mother, foreshadowing the Kid's crime.

  • kid mother murder
  • matricide
  • police manhunt
Q3

Why does Donnelly take the Kid's gun?

After the Kid is fatally shot, Donnelly crawls to him and hears his last regret, that he didn't hit a single policeman. Donnelly pockets one of the revolvers, taking it home as a grim keepsake of the day's violence.

Foreshadowing: The Kid earlier showed no remorse about his mother's death, hinting at his willingness to use lethal force.

  • donnelly takes gun
  • six-shooter
  • trophy
Q4

Why does Donnelly kill the rabbit?

Back home, Donnelly finds two bullets left in the Kid's gun. He contemplates suicide but is distracted by David the rabbit scratching. He tells the rabbit they'll 'be together soon' before shooting its head off, then the gun's final bullet fires as he sits in despair.

Foreshadowing: Donnelly placed a photo of David beside his dead wife in the hospital, showing the rabbit's significance to him.

  • david rabbit killed
  • donnelly suicide
  • rabbit head shot
Q5

What is the story about the cow with trapped wind?

The Kid tells Donnelly a bizarre, nonsensical tale about a cow with trapped wind that eventually explodes. Despite its absurdity, it makes Donnelly laugh, the only moment of levity in an otherwise bleak journey. It reveals how trauma can find release in dark comedy.

  • cow trapped wind story
  • absurd tale
  • kid dark humor
Q6

Why does Donnelly say he no longer believes in God?

After learning his wife died that morning and witnessing the Kid's callousness about his murdered mother, Donnelly breaks down and confesses he has stopped believing in God. The accumulated grief and cruelty have destroyed his faith.

  • donnelly faith lost
  • grief god
  • loss of belief
Q7

Why does the Kid talk so casually about his mother's death?

The Kid reveals his mother was murdered the previous night without showing grief or remorse. His cold, detached reaction suggests profound emotional damage or sociopathy, using dark humor and provocation as a defense mechanism against his own traumatic act.

Foreshadowing: The Kid's cruelty to the couple about their dead baby hints at his lack of empathy.

  • kid mother death
  • no remorse
  • emotional detachment
Q8

What does Donnelly see on the train window?

When the Kid casually announces the wife has jumped, the husband thinks it's a sick joke. But Donnelly notices blood on the window, evidence that she struck the carriage as she leapt, confirming the tragic reality.

  • blood window train
  • jumped confirmation
Q9

Why does the policeman recognize the Kid?

During the interrogation, the policeman questions Donnelly and the Kid, thinking he recognizes the boy from somewhere. This suspicion grows until, as the train leaves, he spots the Kid waving and orders the guns to be drawn, realizing he's the matricide suspect.

  • policeman recognizes kid
  • matricide suspect
Q10

What does Donnelly mean when he says 'Oh Jesus. What a fucking day!'?

After killing the rabbit and with the gun's last bullet spent, Donnelly looks at his wife's photo, the dead rabbit, and the smoking gun. His bitter exclamation summarizes the day's cascade of tragedies: his wife's death, witnessing violence, taking a murderer's gun, and being unable to even end his own life cleanly.

  • final line meaning
  • bleak ending
  • despair summary

Movie threads

More Movies Like Six Shooter, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Six Shooter tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Darkly comic stories of despair like Six Shooter

Stories where grim reality is punctuated by jarring, absurd humor. Discover movies like Six Shooter that masterfully blend bleak subject matter with jarring, absurd humor. If you appreciated the film's tragicomic tone, you'll find similar stories here where laughter and despair collide in unforgettable ways.

  • darkly comic
  • unsettling
  • absurd
  • brutal
  • melancholic
  • raw
  • Tone: dark, bleak, absurd
  • Pacing: steady, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Narratives in this thread often follow characters undergoing profound personal crises, where their journey is marked by a series of increasingly bleak events. The structure uses unexpected comedic beats—often absurd, ironic, or profane—to disrupt the sadness, creating a rollercoaster of emotions that leaves the audience emotionally raw.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared commitment to a darkly comic tone. They balance a heavy emotional core with humor that arises from the absurdity of suffering, resulting in a cohesive vibe that is simultaneously melancholic, brutal, and strangely funny.

Despair movie poster

Despair

1978
Good-bye Cruel World movie poster

Good-bye Cruel World

1983
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The End

1978
Go Down Death movie poster

Go Down Death

2014
Down Terrace movie poster

Down Terrace

2010
The Humbling movie poster

The Humbling

2015
Rotting in the Sun movie poster

Rotting in the Sun

2023
A Wonderful World movie poster

A Wonderful World

2006

Claustrophobic fateful journeys like in Six Shooter

Confrontations in confined spaces that irrevocably alter lives. Find films similar to Six Shooter that trap characters in confined spaces with unpredictable strangers. If you liked the tense train ride and brutal confrontation, explore these movies where travel becomes a catalyst for life-altering conflict and dark discoveries.

  • claustrophobic
  • tense
  • unsettling
  • violent
  • fateful
  • brutal
  • Tone: tense, dark, unsettling
  • Pacing: steady, building to climax
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves a protagonist, often already in a vulnerable state, being trapped in a confined mobile space with an antagonistic or chaotic force. The limited environment heightens tension, forcing a direct and escalating confrontation that exposes raw emotions and often culminates in a violent or tragic resolution, sealing the characters' fates.

Why they belong together: These movies share a specific setting and plot mechanism: a confined journey that acts as a crucible. The combination of claustrophobic atmosphere, steady pacing building to a violent peak, and the theme of fateful, destructive encounters creates a distinct and intense viewing pattern.

Cairo Station movie poster

Cairo Station

1958
The Passenger movie poster

The Passenger

1975
Voyage of the Damned movie poster

Voyage of the Damned

1976
A Streetcar Named Desire movie poster

A Streetcar Named Desire

1951
Sightseers movie poster

Sightseers

2013
The Man in the Back Seat movie poster

The Man in the Back Seat

1961
Journey into the Night movie poster

Journey into the Night

1921
Going Places movie poster

Going Places

1974

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Every angle

Six Shooter (2004) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Six Shooter in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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