Ancil
The Outfit is a crime drama film that tells the story of an English tailor, making a living in Chicago who gets embroiled in the activities of gangsters. The film had a world premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 14, 2022. It was released in the United States on March 18, 2022, by Focus Features. It stars Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn, Dylan O’Brien, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Simon Russell Beale.
Graham Moore directed the film in what was his directorial debut with a screenplay written by himself and Johnathan McClain. The film has received generally positive reviews and here’s what you can expect from it: (Warning, spoiler ahead!)
The Outfit Synopsis
The story begins with Leonard Burling going about his tailoring work at his shop in 1956 which introduces us to a day in his life. He has regular customers but his backroom is also the center for local gangsters who use it for conducting their illicit business. Among the visitors are Ritchie Boyle, son of the neighborhood mob boss, Roy Boyle, and his right-hand man, Francis. They find mysterious letters from a secret underground association called The Outfit. Also in his tailoring shop is Leonard’s secretary Mable who has an affair with Richie. Leonard is a widower and cares for Mable as his own daughter and Mable is an orphan who wants to see the world and looks up to him as a father figure.
One night, Richie and Francis show up at the tailor shop announced. Richie has a gunshot wound from a shootout with the rival LaFontaine family. Francis demands Leonard to stitch Ritchie’s wounds up and entrusts him with the briefcase that held a tape with evidence of the rat in the gang slipping information to the FBI before he goes out looking for a tape recorder to listen to the tape. Meanwhile, Richie wakes up and starts conversing with the tailor. They form a bond after Leonard tells him he is the rat but Richie laughs at the joke as the conversation steers toward them assuming Francis is the rat.
Who Has The Tape?
When Francis comes back, Ritchie confronts him and suspects that he is the rat. He threatens to listen to the tape and find him out but the tape is not in the briefcase. Francis ends up shooting and killing him. He then makes Leonard an accomplice and threatens to kill him if he said a word to Roy. Roy then comes to the shop looking for his son and is misled by Francis into thinking that he went out looking for him with the tape. Roy notices his son’s jacket and threatens to kill Leonard if he doesn’t tell him the truth about his son. Just as he is about to reveal that Francis had killed him, he shows up with a gun pointed at Mable. When the gangsters turn on Mable, Leonard confesses yet again but is interrupted by a call.
Leonard answers the call and tells Roy that it was Ritchie calling about where he was. Roy goes to the location and Leonard hatches a plan to save himself, Mable, and Francis. Leonard says the LaFontaine will go to the location where he sent Roy and kill him. Then they can bait them to his shop for the tape. This way the Boyles can’t kill them for lying and Francis can take charge of the gang. When Francis is skeptical about how that will happen, Francis reveals that Mable is the rat and will tip off the rival gang. As for the tape, he reveals that he had hidden it all along.
The Outfit Ending Explained
The LaFontaine shows up at the shop with money in exchange for the tape. Francis decides to kill the LaFontaines for good measure by jumping out of the backroom. As the LaFontaines are making a deal with Leonard and Mable, they let them know about Francis who is brought out at gunpoint and shot. Leonard then gives Mable the money and asks her to flee. He gives her the real tape of everyone confessing to their crimes and asks her to drop it with the FBI to ensure their safety as well. She asks him to come with her since The Outfit may come after them. But it dawns on her that Leonard was pretending to be The Outfit and orchestrated the massacre to get rid of the gangs in the neighborhood.
But with bloodshed in his shop, Leonard packs up and decides to leave after burning his shop down. Turns out that Francis had not died yet and he tries to kill Leonard. He then confesses to Francis telling him that he was a gangster in the past too which is why he had run away to America. His past violence had led the gangs to murder his family and he already knew a life of violence. He stabs Francis with his sheers and goes away to start over elsewhere. Whether Leonard is The Outfit or just pretending is left to the viewer’s discretion.
