The film opens with Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) and her fiancé whom she loves. All the same themes of suffering, power, revenge and justice are present, but the gender of the main character and the time setting make a huge difference. The Brave One can best be thought of as a re-imagining of the old Death Wish films starring Charles Bronson. Mercer catches up to her, and in a moment of decision decides to cover up what Bain did, shoots himself in the arm and blames one of the dead criminals for the crimes. When Bain finds the men that attacked her, though, she commits one more crime. With the police closing in, Mercer warns Bain that if the vigilante commits one more crime then it's likely they're going to get caught. She kills another man on the subway who threatens her with a knife and then keeps going, prowling the city as an anonymous vigilante. However, as Bain calms down, she realizes that there's another woman inside of her, one that likes the empowerment, the inherent, primal rightness of justice by the gun. Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard) is on the case, but he has yet to put two and two together between Bain and the crime.

She runs, leaving police wondering who did this. When Bain is hiding in a convenience store during a violent conflict, she almost gets shot but ends up killing a man she just witnessed commit murder. Out of desperation she illegally buys a gun, hoping that will make her feel safer.

Bain tries to grieve, to move past the feelings of terror and pain, but she can't. One night where they're attacked, Bain is severely injured, and her fiancé is killed. She's a radio talk personality, he's a doctor, and life seems to be going well for both of them in the big, wide city of New York.

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