Liam Neeson’s Retribution: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know

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Liam Neeson is at it again; the Irish actor is returning for yet another action film in which he embarks on a revenge-motivated spree of violence. In his renowned 2008 thriller Taken, Neeson follows his daughter halfway around the world after she is abducted by human traffickers. He tirelessly follows her tracks and vows revenge on those who hurt her.

His character, a former Black Ops agent, threatens the abductors with an iconic speech that ends with, “I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” This bone-chilling line summarizes the arc of Taken, and it cements Neeson’s character as a determined, protective father looking for John Wick-style revenge.

On the other hand, Neeson’s new film Retribution depicts the opposite of Taken. Where Taken has a father seeking to find the assailants and his children, Retribution follows Neeson as he evades assailants and desperately tries to protect his children. When his family is targeted by an unknown, unhinged bomber, Neeson is left with no other choice but to engage in a Speed-style car chase as he investigates the threat to his life.

Ahead of its August 2023 premiere, here’s everything we know about Retribution.

Retribution: The Plot

The official plot synopsis is as follows.

When a mysterious caller puts a bomb under his car seat, Matt Turner begins a high-speed chase across the city to complete a specific series of tasks. With his kids trapped in the back seat and a bomb that will explode if they get out of the car, a normal commute becomes a twisted game of life or death as Matt follows the stranger’s increasingly dangerous instructions in a race against time to save his family.

The film follows Neeson as Matt Turner, a business mogul and hardworking father. During a normal, run-of-the-mill drive to drop off his kids at school, Matt receives a harrowing phone call. The soon-to-be killer reveals that Matt’s car is rigged to blow–the driver’s seat and the two back seats where his children are patiently waiting.

If Matt stops driving, the car detonates. If Matt or his children shift from their seats, the car detonates. “Honey, something’s happened.” Neeson calmly relays to his wife in the trailer. “There’s a man who has put a bomb in the car. Under our seats, there are pressure triggers. We can’t get out. The car will explode.”

He is left with no choice but to follow the instructions provided by the mysterious caller as he tries to figure out who’s behind it all, and more importantly, why they are targeting his family. As the instructions become more convoluted and the threats increase in severity, Matt Turner becomes a suspect of local law enforcement, who have reason to believe that Turner has taken his children hostage and planted the bombs himself.

Matt (with law enforcement on his heels) faces skeletons from his past as he races to prove his innocence, identify his blackmailer, and get his children to safety. The trailer ends with Matt yelling, “You hurt my daughter, you son of a bitch. I will kill you,” echoing his monologue from Taken.

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Retribution: The Cast and Crew

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Retribution stars Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List, Taken), Noma Dumezweni (The Little Mermaid), Lilly Aspell (Wonder Woman), and Jack Champion (Avatar: The Way of Water). The film also features Emily Husche (The Island), Embeth Davidtz (Army of Darkness), and Matthew Modine (Stranger Things).

Retribution is directed by Nimród Antal (Servant, Predators, Armored) and based on a screenplay by Chris Salmanpour (FBI: Most Wanted) and Andrew Baldwin. The duo adapted El Desconocido, the Spanish film that Retribution is inspired by, with that adaptation going on to earn eight Goya Award nominations in 2018. Salmanpour and Baldwin are also joined by writer Ward Parry (Curtiz).

The film is produced by Jaume Collet-Serra, Juan Sola, Andrew Rona, and Alex Heineman. The four are producing for Lionsgate Studios (The Expendables, John Wick, Terminator 2: Judgement Day) in conjunction with Studiocanai and Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures.

Notably, the film has a stacked crew behind the camera. In addition to the leading actors, Retribution features film composer Harry Gregson-Williams, a composer best known for his work on The Martian, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Shrek.

Additionally, famed production designer David Scheunemann contributed to the project. Scheunemann is best known for his work on Inglorious Basterds, Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2. He is a consummate action-thriller production lead; his previous work speaks to his ability to stay within a curated, artistic vision while still engaging in classic car-chase, shoot-out, action-thriller tropes.

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Retribution: The Release Date

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The film will premiere exclusively in theaters on August 25, 2023.

Retribution: Everything Else

Lionsgate

Retribution is an internationally collaborative venture between American, French, Spanish, and German studios, namely Studiocanal and Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures. Additionally, with Liam Neeson joining forces with The Picture Company and Studiocanal in Retribution, this marks his fourth overall film venture with the production and distribution studios after Non-Stop, The Commuter, and Unknown.

In addition to Retribution, Liam Neeson will star in Thug and In the Land of Saints and Sinners in the coming months.