In Bruges: Two Hitmen, One Christmas in Belgium
Mobsters DailyIn Bruges is a Christmas movie about two hitmen hiding out in a medieval Belgian town after a job goes wrong — Ray, who accidentally killed a young boy on his first hit, and Ken, ordered by their boss Harry to kill Ray for it — and its mix of fairy-lit canals, guilt and loyalty has made it the crime fan's alternative Christmas classic. It belongs on the canon gathered in mob movies that are Christmas movies, somewhere between the sentiment and the shootout.
A fairy tale town, a purgatory plot
Writer-director Martin McDonagh shoots Bruges like a Christmas card — cobbles, canals, the Belfry, markets glowing — and then uses it as purgatory. Ray (Colin Farrell) hates the place with the energy of a man who cannot sit still with what he has done; Ken (Brendan Gleeson) plays tourist with the melancholy of a man who suspects this is his last holiday. The comedy is real and so is the despair, often in the same line. When Harry (Ralph Fiennes) orders Ken to kill Ray — a child died, and Harry's code is absolute — the film becomes a loyalty problem dressed as a travelogue: Ken must choose between the code and the broken young man in front of him.
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Why it became a Christmas classic
Like the other December crime stories in the Die Hard Christmas debate, In Bruges earns its season rather than decorating with it: Christmas is when its themes — judgment, mercy, sacrifice, a child at the center of the story — do their work. Ken's choice on the Belfry and Harry's final, terrible consistency with his own code are redemption mechanics, played without a drop of syrup. Farrell won a Golden Globe, the script was Oscar-nominated, and the film's cult has only grown, with Bruges itself now permanently half-expecting hitmen in its Christmas crowds.
The ending's open door
McDonagh refuses Ray a verdict — shot, bleeding, narrating that he hopes he does not die. For a film about purgatory, an unresolved ending is the only honest one, and the reason it gets rewatched every December: it is a Christmas story that believes in judgment and mercy in exactly that order.
Frequently asked questions
Is In Bruges set at Christmas? Yes — the hitmen hide out in Bruges in the run-up to Christmas, and the season runs through the film's imagery and themes.
Who stars in In Bruges? Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as Ray and Ken, with Ralph Fiennes as their boss, Harry Waters.
Is In Bruges based on a true story? No — it is an original screenplay by Martin McDonagh, who also directed.
Keep reading: Mob movies that are Christmas movies to me · Goodfellas' Christmas party scene · The fake mob movie inside Home Alone
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