Retrospective Film Review

Collateral (2004) • 20 Years Later — a deal with the Devil in Michael Mann’s impressively dark thriller

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.

In Navajo mythology, the coyote is considered to be an enigmatic, cunning creature. It’s believed to have existed since the beginning of time, living on the threshold of civilisation and wilderness. These beings are tricksters, greedy and malevolent. It’s for this reason that, in Navajo folklore, people are warned of coming into contact with the coyote. If you encounter one on a journey, you must turn around and return from whence you came… or risk annihilation.

Max (Jamie Foxx) doesn’t know it yet, but a coyote cloaked in human skin sits in the back of his cab. Vincent (Tom Cruise), a brash, well-dressed man with a concerning life philosophy, has asked Max to drive him around for the night. He has five stops to make and views a driver as adept as Max being a valuable asset…