Attrition (2018) Movie Script

The weight of war

is a heavy burden to bear.

Some say it's a necessity,

a stage on which good

can triumph over evil.

But sometimes the cost is too

great to justify the means.

Axe.

Axe!

For all the lines that

have been crossed

in the name of justice...

taking a life for a life

will only perpetuate

the cycle.

The war must be fought

from within.

It'll take a lifetime

to make amends

for the terrible things

I've done.

I take refuge in the Buddha.

I take refuge in the Dharma.

I take refuge in the Sangha.

The corruption of our world

is diluvian in proportions,

in places like Mong La,

where the wicked run rampant.

Human trafficking trade

is estimated at $32 billion

per annum.

Animal trafficking is

estimated

at $23 billion per annum.

Narco trafficking is estimated

at $150 billion per annum.

How do you combat evil

when the whole world

has lost its way?

And in a place like Mong La,

a border town

of ungoverned criminals?

Why can't you just sit down?

The doctor is coming very soon,

and he's gonna see everyone,

everyone.

Please just...

Okay, just line here.

You just stay here, okay?

Sit up.

Mm-hmm.

Sit down here.

Line up here.

And the doctor

is coming very soon, okay?

Everybody, don't worry.

Everything is gonna be fine.

He cannot see everyone

at the same time, right?

Please. Please wait.

He's coming soon, okay?

Please wait. Please wait.

Everybody, don't worry.

Don't worry.

He's gonna see every single

of you.

Good morning.

Who's next?

Mr. Jok.

Chen Man is here to see you.

Double-palm po pai strike.

- Forgot that one.

- You always did.

Come, sit down.

Let's have some cha.

Have you seen Sifu?

Do you think I can help him?

You should go see him.

I will.

We will. We'll go together.

Why? You never got to learn?

I think he just liked me

more than he liked you.

Is it true that Sifu gave your

mother the entire form?

How close?

I know I'm not supposed to

make jokes about your mother.

I'm sorry.

Now?

According to the words

of our great master,

"Unless you have emptiness

and complete calm,

the butterfly will leave."

You see? He never left.

So about

the second half of the form.

I'm gonna show it to you

next time.

Why not now?

- Well...

- Because you have patients.

And you need to have patience.

Next time, then.

Thanks for the first half

of the form at least.

I owe you, Axe.

And where do I go to collect?

Oh.

Chen Man Karaoke Club.

Is that as exciting

as it sounds?

Maybe more so.

Come visit.

We are the best blues club

in town.

- Yeah, and the only one.

- That too.

Let me know when you have time,

Axe,

and we can go see Sifu

together.

For sure. We'll do that.

He has been

watching you all morning.

He never answers

when I speak to him.

His name is Wai.

Well, I was hoping

he would tell me that.

He can't.

He can't talk.

Why is that?

He's from a very poor family.

His father lost his job

and started drinking heavily.

There was a tragedy in this

village before you arrived.

One night

robbers came to their house,

and they kidnapped his sisters

when their father was away.

Wai's mother tried

to stop them.

And they murdered her

in front of Wai.

The gangs from Mong La

have too much power.

No one can stop them.

Axe, your destiny

awaits you.

- Please, I need more time.

- Don't we all?

But I'm not finished,

I tell you.

And I'm telling you

that you are.

Come on!

You know why the watchmen

keep fish here, Mr. Li?

They eat the mosquitoes.

It's nature's way

of dealing with parasites.

All I need's for my luck

to change.

It already did,

but for the worst.

You know the worst thing that

can happen

to a bad gambler, Li?

It's when the house doesn't

care about its money anymore...

when you're worth more

as an example to others.

Please. Please.

You can't kill me.

I have something, something

for your master, for Qmom.

Well, all he needs you for

is fish food.

There is a girl in

my village...

Master Qmom has more wives

than an emperor, Li.

Do you think some village whore

can do anything?

No, no, no. I know Qmom.

He's a man of faith.

The girl, Tara, she knew things

she couldn't know,

do things no one can do,

and she also has the power

of healing.

We shall see.

Huh?

Mr. Li.

Yeah, I can.

Definitely.

No map.

My map is here.

And my debts, lord...

You... will be forgiven?

Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you!

I'll give you your duel.

I'll allow you to live.

But I'll guarantee you

that you'll never act

this foolish again.

What's your name, brother?

Nobody fights so well

should fight for so little.

Actually, I'm very, very

close to Mr. Shang.

Him and his whole family

are very good friends of mine.

I pay for his granddaughter

to go to school.

I take care of their family.

But Shang is a proud man.

So, for his sake, not for mine,

when I go by the store

every day,

I take a little fruit, a little

vegetable, a little bread,

for his sake, to give him face.

You know, strange or negative

words carry great weight.

They're like a poison.

They carry their own life.

Go get me the biggest sack

you can find

and fill it full of

down feathers

and carry it to the top of

the highest hill you can find

and throw all the feathers

everywhere in the wind.

And come back a week later

and find every feather,

put it back in the bag

and bring me the bag.

If you're my student...

let this be your first lesson.

Nice try.

Don't be scared...

yet.

Sau. Sau.

One more person.

So, as you can see,

she can't really straighten out

her neck,

so I'm just gonna see if I can

relieve this in here

a little bit.

How's that?

Huh?

Yeah.

- Good.

- Looks good.

Wai, what happened?

What's wrong?

Tell me what's wrong.

My father has a knife.

He going to kill himself.

You take me to him.

I help you, okay?

Come, take me to him.

Let's go.

Dada!

Please, stop!

Please, brother.

This isn't the answer.

You know nothing.

Then tell me.

You can tell me.

I don't deserve to live.

But I cannot die

unless I'm brave enough

to end it now!

Brave is to live

through this for him.

He needs you. He loves you.

I want to die!

You have to forget about

the past.

You have him to live for.

I'm not a coward.

I will prove it!

I will kill you first

and then kill myself!

Kill me.

I give you my life

so you can live for him.

I'm sorry.

She loves flowers.

She said she loves flowers.

She loves these.

Who are you?

I am nothing.

I am everything.

I am emptiness.

The suchness of luminosity

unborn and undying.

You have turned

from you ways of the past,

ways of pain

and great suffering.

You will soon face

a crossroad,

another chance to save

the many

you could not save before.

You are the only one.

Why have you come?

It is you who will come

to me.

Come to me. Come to me.

- Sifu?

- Ah.

A Mr. Yuen here to see you.

But we're already closed.

I wonder if he could see me

tomorrow.

I don't think so, Sifu.

Okay.

I'm sorry to trouble you

at such late hour, Sifu.

We've come a long way.

Come in.

Sit down here.

Sit here.

In the three years

I've lived in this village,

you've never come to my home

before.

Something must be

troubling you.

I have heard many things

about you.

Like?

How you dealt with

undesirable people.

That was a long time ago.

With my money,

I can do certain things.

With certain things,

I am powerless.

What is this leading to,

brother?

Children in our village

has been going missing.

- Young girls.

- How many?

From the last two years,

seven.

As of yesterday, eight.

I have three daughters.

The two youngest are here.

And your oldest daughter?

She disappeared

two days ago.

Tara...

She's special.

The whole village has always

tried to hide and protect her.

Well, in what way is she

special?

When she was a baby,

I noticed certain gifts.

At her words, rains come down.

From her hand, light can heal.

As powerful as Qmom is,

he is cursed with

a strange sickness.

He can no longer

walk in the sun.

He has to live in the fortress

that he's built for himself.

And he thinks that your

daughter can heal him.

Qmom disease

will spread like never before.

He can walk wherever he wills.

More young girls kidnapped,

torn from their homes.

My people...

have lost hope.

With all great understanding

and compassion

of a father and the pain

you're going through...

- I gave vows...

- I have gold.

Please. I have land.

It's not about money.

I don't want money.

I don't need money.

- I want to...

- But you're the only one...

But you're the only one I know

who can do this.

Then you leave me with

no choice.

Then you take my daughter,

because I'm quite sure

I will not return alive.

Tara...

Take the girls home.

- I'll get your daughter.

- Thank you.

Okay. Don't cry.

Don't cry.

This is Tara.

Come on.

You daughter was lost.

We were merely trying

to take her home.

What's the problem?

You know, this border town,

it's got quite a reputation

for murderers, rapists,

drug dealers, drug addicts.

Which one of these categories

do you fall under, brah?

Is kidnapping your thing?

You know, there's no

greater evil

than those who harm children.

You know what I did before

I started kidnapping children?

No, what did you do?

I was a hitman

for the Triads.

Wow.

You are one of those idiots

who learn Kung Fu,

believing all true power

must come from

a spiritual foundation.

I have learned Kung Fu to kill.

Those like me, we will

always be much stronger.

Our attention is focused

on one thing.

You, however,

are divided into two things...

your phony spiritual

and your physical technique.

You are at a tremendous

disadvantage.

Our Kung Fu very good

Kung Fu.

Come with me.

I want to teach you something.

Yes, Master Chen Man.

What's your point?

She stole from me!

She took my money and ring.

That was a precious

family heirloom.

I care!

I want to ask you

just one thing, Mei Ling.

Do you steal from Mr. How?

Yes, sir.

Why?

I have a daughter.

And how old is she?

Seven.

She has leukemia.

I come from deep mountains

in the north.

They say, with the best

medical treatment,

it could be curable.

But if I don't get her to the

better hospital, she will die.

Please forgive me.

I believe you.

This should be enough money

for you and your daughter

to live a life without want.

Take care for your daughter

and never leave her side again.

Remember, no matter

how poor you are

and how hard life is,

never steal.

Set a good example

for your daughter.

A golden opportunity.

When I invited you to visit,

I figured we'd just play

some music...

have a few laughs.

Raiding Qmom's place,

that's no easy thing.

And we know for a fact that

this girl Tara is even there?

I know she's there.

Yeah, take it on faith.

So you're finally

calling in that marker.

That I am, brother.

With this, I'm ready

for anything.

Death by a thousand cuts.

I see you keep these blades

very sharp.

Once a month.

Old habits die hard.

Amazing.

Thank you.

I only know Qmom by reputation.

I know you guys are in the same

town, the same business.

What's the story with this guy?

He control drugs, human

trafficking, and extortion.

It sounds to me like you

think somebody needs to stop

this guy anyway, so...

Against Qmom, things can turn

real hard real quick.

That's why we need the

right tools

and the right people

for the job.

I know it's you, Infidel.

How's the debt-collecting

business coming?

Never better,

but I could sure use a new gig.

What's with the

freeze frame, guys?

Darius is in there,

partying like a rock star.

So what?

And the only people

he's letting in

are hot girls

and pizza-delivery boys.

So we're getting the band

back together, huh?

Looks like it.

- Yep.

- Okay, brother.

So when you gonna pay

Mr. Wong back his money, huh?

Soon.

There's never a pizza guy

around

when you need one, right?

Axe.

Axe?

Oh.

Nothing special, handsome.

Just another day in the office.

Right.

I'll see you there.

Sifu, Chen Man and I,

we were just traveling

through the area.

We decided to stop by

and see you.

You see,

the mind is infinite,

but the body is finite.

That being said,

if my eyes don't deceive me,

we're gonna have a lot of time

to receive your wisdom.

Ooh!

So this is it?

Only three of us?

- Oh...

- Hollywood.

You made it.

Hey, big man.

So how's the music business?

Gone to shit

when Motown closed.

Why don't we just go find

the man with the plan?

First up, I know why

everybody's here.

You're all here because you

think you owe me something.

You don't owe me nothing.

But you owe yourselves the

war ethics

that we have all created

over the years.

Don't know about the rest

of you,

but I'm here because

Chan offered me

an unlimited bar tab for life.

Okay, so we're hitting

Qmom's place.

This is the only image we have

of him.

So he's not a target, but

he's a very important player.

This is the woman

we're looking for...

early 20s.

She's almost certainly being

held

in the basement of the club,

heavily guarded.

We're gonna go for the girl.

That's why we're here.

Chen Man will cover us

on the perimeter in and out.

My spectacular little brother.

All right, Infidel, see if you

can get me

a detailed map of the joint.

On it.

Yinying, I want you to go in

there dressed as a customer.

You can dress like someone

real sexy. It's up to you.

Hollywood, Scarecrow,

I want you guys to run an

inventory

on what we have and

what we need.

Copy that.

All right, I know I'm asking

a lot,

but for what it's worth, cause

is just, and we are righteous.

Bro, I have one question.

All right.

What the hell is that name...

Qmom?

I really don't know,

but I could introduce you

to his mama,

and you could ask her.

Where do I know that name...

Black Claw Ma? I know it.

Not in this one,

at least not yet.

If anybody knows the inner

workings

of Qmom's place,

it's Black Claw Ma.

There's two kinds of dogs,

Chen.

There's the kind of dog

that's loyal

to his master until the end.

And there's the kind of dog

that'll bite his master

the first chance he gets.

We just have to see

which kind of dog this guy is.

You're still keeping

that mystical bell, huh?

What medicine are you

looking for today?

Yeah, but not for me.

The wild one.

Now I remember you.

Axe.

Otherwise known

as "the Mongkok Demon Slayer."

But, you know,

Mongkok is in Hong Kong,

and we're in Mong La,

somewhere in the frontier land

between

Laos, Cambodia, Thailand.

We're in all these places.

But I remember you.

Black Claw Ma,

another face from the past.

You were an asshole then,

and you're an asshole now.

I'm... I'm deeply hurt.

Your words deeply hurt me.

You really think your teacher

would show all his secrets?

You know, I'm just a simple

country boy.

I have no aspirations

to be anything great,

receive any great teachings

or techniques

from any great master.

I'm simply not worthy.

Enough of the history lesson,

Axe.

Why did you bring me here?

Well, you know,

the last time I saw you,

it seems like you sort of have

your head up Qmom's ass,

and I wondered if maybe

Attrition (2018) - full transcript