The Killer

The Killer

Year: 1989

Runtime: 110 mins

Language: Cantonese

Director: John Woo

CrimeDramaActionThrillerCrime

Mob assassin Jeffrey is the industry's most skilled hitman, treating killing as a calling. After his latest job blinds nightclub singer Jennie, he decides to retire and take one final contract to fund her eye surgery. Betrayed, Jeffrey is forced to team up with a rogue cop to settle the score and protect the woman he inadvertently harmed.

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The Killer (1989) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of The Killer (1989), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

Zee is a professional hit woman based in Paris, regularly hired by Finn, an Irishman working for crime lord Jules Gobert, to eliminate rivals in the drug trade. Her violent lifestyle has left her with few pleasures, save for the friendship of an old high-class tailor named Tessier, who provides disguises, keeps a goldfish, and stokes her love of crossword puzzles. In the underworld, she has earned a fearsome reputation as the Queen of the Dead.

Finn contracts Zee to strike at the members of a Marseille drug gang partying in a local nightclub, where a young American singer performing is Jenn Clark. At approximately the same moment, Inspector Sey and his partner Jax attempt to arrest Jenn’s drug-dealing boyfriend, Coco; Coco escapes, injures Jax, and takes a hostage, forcing Sey to kill him. The carnage at the club leads to the gang’s deaths, but Jenn is injured in the melee and goes blind from the chaos. Despite the orders to kill everyone present, Zee spares Jenn as an uninvolved civilian. Finn then sends her to the hospital to finish the job.

Posing as a vice-consul from the US embassy, Zee gains access to Jenn’s hospital room but again spares her. When Sey arrives to take Jenn’s statement about the nightclub murders, Jenn’s trauma makes recollection difficult, and Sey grows suspicious of Zee.

Sey links Gobert to a recent heroin theft from Arabian prince Majeb Bin Faheem and to a network of dirty cops aligned with Gobert. The theft, however, is part of Finn’s larger plan to corner Paris’s heroin market.

Before Finn’s thugs can assassinate Jenn at the hospital, Zee intervenes, triggering a hospital shootout that leaves staff and patients casualties. Zee and Sey briefly confront one another before Zee escapes with Jenn to her apartment. Jenn identifies Zee as the nightclub killer and reveals that she and Coco had stolen Bin Faheem’s heroin shipment, triggering the chain of murders. Zee reports to Finn that she has eliminated Jenn, but Finn soon learns the truth. Sey traces Zee, and after being framed, goes into hiding; Zee is ordered to eliminate him, but she realizes the setup and allies with Sey to bring Finn down instead.

They recover the heroin and arrange an exchange of drugs for Jenn at an abandoned church. The final confrontation pits Zee, Sey, and Finn against Finn’s assassins, and an explosive charge destroys the drugs while Jenn regains her sight. As Finn prepares to kill Zee, she distracts him with a lighthearted question, giving Sey the chance to pass her a gun to shoot Finn. In the end, Zee watches Jenn reunite with her mother, and, choosing a new path, she tells Sey she’s planning to change her life, sharing a warm, bittersweet farewell.

Last Updated: November 29, 2025 at 00:47

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Redemptive Hitman Stories Like The Killer

Skilled killers seek a way out, haunted by one last job gone wrong.If you liked The Killer, explore more movies about cold-blooded assassins seeking redemption. These crime thrillers feature skilled hitmen on one last job, forced alliances, and a heavy emotional weight as they confront the consequences of their violent lives.

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The narrative pattern typically involves a 'one last job' premise that spirals out of control due to betrayal, forcing the protagonist to break their solitary rules. The journey is less about achieving a clean victory and more about atonement, often culminating in a bittersweet resolution where survival comes at a great personal cost.

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Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on a specific character arc: the redemption of a methodical killer. They blend high-intensity action with a heavy emotional core, exploring themes of guilt, loyalty, and the possibility of change within a cynical, corrupt world.

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Enemies become temporary partners to survive a web of betrayal.Find movies similar to The Killer where heroes and villains form shaky alliances. These fast-paced thrillers and crime dramas feature rogue cops teaming with criminals, shifting loyalties, and high-stakes action in a morally ambiguous world of betrayal.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative revolves around a central, forced partnership—often between a criminal and a law enforcement officer—that drives the plot forward. The tension comes from the constant threat of betrayal within the alliance itself, as both parties navigate a larger, more powerful corrupt network. The story is linear and propulsive, focusing on survival and a final confrontation.

Why These Movies?

These films are connected by their core dynamic of a 'alliance of convenience'. They share a tense, paranoid mood, fast pacing fueled by constant danger, and a cynical tone where the lines between good and evil are permanently blurred.

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Characters, Settings & Themes in The Killer

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