Sympathy for the Devil (2023) Explained: Who Deserves Your Pity?

‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is a psychological thriller film that was directed by Yuval Adler and written by Luke Paradise. It stars Joel Kinnaman and Nicolas Cage in the two lead roles. It had its premiere at the 2023 edition Fantasia International Film Festival. Cage adds another unhinged performance to his ever-growing gallery of such roles. This is a film that borrows heavily from the likes of Mann’s ‘Collateral,’ Frears’s ‘The Hit’ and Cronenberg’s ‘A History of Violence.’ Yet it sets itself apart from its influences by steering clear of its spare, economical style, instead favoring a maximalist approach for such a genre film. The lurid colors, Cage’s performance, and even explosions add to what is an unabashed grindhouse interpretation of a sophisticated style of gangster films.

Sympathy for the Devil (2023) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis

David Chamberlain is an ordinary blue-collar worker for a shipping company in Las Vegas. He is originally from Tucson. He and his wife Maggie lost their firstborn, a daughter, due to complications during the delivery. Now years later, David has a young son with whom he shares a good bond. Despite his parents having kept it a secret from him, he knows about his sister’s fate. David drops off his son at his grandmother’s on the way to the hospital, where Maggie is about to deliver their third child. He is concerned because of what happened to their first child and rushes.

Rushing to the hospital, David pulls into the parking lot. He doesn’t even have a chance to park before a strange sight catches his eye. A man with bright red hair and a matching red suit stands out from the crowd gathered near the Labor & Delivery section, staring directly at David. Before David can react, the man opens the back door of his car, jumps in, and points a gun at him. David’s heart races as the stranger demands he pick something up. The stranger has clearly been drinking and correctly predicts him picking an ace of spades. He then forces David to take the car out and drive into the Strip as he likes the night lights. He does not give a destination and simply tells David to keep driving, who trembles at the sight of the gun.

David tells the man he stopped drinking years ago, and the latter tries to speculate if it was 15 years ago or so. He asks if David has ever been to Boston, to which he replies that he did, once, for business. The stranger informs David that he knows about his wife and son, and they might both be harmed if he does not follow his instructions.

At a gas station, David tries to sneakily ask for help from a lady filling up the neighboring car. She looks concerned but decides not to get involved. The stranger notices this but forgives David because he knows that he was naturally trying to take his chances. He reveals that his mother is dying from lung cancer and is admitted to the Boulder City Hospital. David is to drive him to the hospital so he can perform her last rites.

At one point, David notices that there is a police car in the vicinity. He decides to drive fast so that the police officer will stop them from speeding and he will be able to get rid of the stranger. As expected, the police car starts signaling David to pull over. The stranger does not allow David to pull over on the freeway and makes him take a turn into a residential locality. He asks David not to even hint at his hostage situation lest his wife and children suffer the consequences.

The stranger deliberately riles up the police officer and then shoots him, after which he takes his handcuffs. David is shocked at this. However, he pulls himself together once the stranger gets back into the car, and he refuses to drive. This proves futile, and he realizes that he has to comply with the stranger’s demands, who is not simply a barking dog as David probably assumed initially.

 Who is the Stranger and What Does He Want?

It is quite evident that the stranger has a plan for David and is not simply using him as his designated driver. At one point, he tells David that they are actually going to a private airstrip in Boulder City. There, a man who is extremely impatient to meet David is waiting for him. He was going to make David drive all the way to Boston, but this man at the airstrip could not wait for that long. David insists that he has the wrong person as he seems to have no clue about what the stranger is referring to.

“Sympathy for the Devil” Ending Explained: A Shocking Revelation Changes Everything

Who is the stranger, really?

Some fifteen years ago, the stranger, originally from Brooklyn, was living in South Boston. He was working for a person with alcoholic use disorder, an Irish-American man named Jacob Sullivan. He is a member of the Boston mob, and he started maintaining the accounts of one of Sullivan’s associates. This associate of Sullivan’s was siphoning off his money. Around this time, the accountant fell in love, got married to his beloved, and the two had a daughter.

When Sullivan found out about the associate’s scam, he made the accountant, our stranger, invite him over to his house. He sent his wife and daughter away so that they could spend time together alone. And just when this associate got drunk enough, Sullivan’s men came in and shot this man in the back of his head. The accountant’s wife, who was supposed to have been away, unfortunately, walked in and witnessed this murder. It severely traumatized her, and so she took to drinking and drugs. She started telling this story of this murder to anyone willing to listen, and this became a problem for Sullivan.

Who is David, really?

David is actually a man named James Levine, who used to be an infamous hitman for the Boston mob. One day, he called the accountant and told him that his wife had become a liability for Sullivan. Knowing the reputation of Levine, the accountant decided to send his wife and daughter away. Before sending them off, he went to the store to get some supplies they would need on the road.

When the accountant went away, James Levine paid a visit to his house. His wife got startled at the sight of James, probably because she was from Boston and knew who he was. So, he shot her thrice and then set the house on fire while the accountant’s daughter was still alive. Killing an innocent child burdened James with a lot of guilt, and he took up drinking.

This is when he meets Maggie, his present wife. With her, he decided to start a new life with a new identity as David Chamberlain, leaving his violent past behind. He felt that he had paid his dues when his firstborn died following her birth and, at present, is trying his very best to be a good father and husband to repay for his sins.

What does the stranger plan to do to David?

The stranger, whose wife and daughter were murdered in cold blood by David in the past, wishes to exact revenge. He had waited all these years to probably give David an opportunity to have a happy family, so he would be terrified at the prospect of losing to the ghosts of his past. Throughout the film, the stranger kept hinting at what he would do to David’s family should he not listen to him.

The stranger did not kill David right after meeting him so he could tell him how he ruined his life and turned him into this violent, reckless individual. It also makes sense why the stranger is so averse to listening to David, or anyone, for that matter, use their family to garner sympathy. His own, after all, was subjected to anything but that. After realizing the kind of happy life James had created for himself as David, the stranger wants to remind him that his sins cannot be forgotten so easily.

Read More: 10 Best Nicolas Cage Movie Performances

At the end of the film, David overpowers the stranger and kills him instead, erasing one final link to his past. David shoots the police officers so that they do not arrest him or thwart this cleansing on his part. He does regret what he did. But will not let his past destroy his family’s future.

We are not told if Maggie knows about David’s past as James. Even though David was clearly in danger, his wife Maggie seems totally sure he’s okay. This makes us wonder if Maggie might know more about the situation than the movie lets on. After this brief interlude in his life, he reminds and convinces himself that he is David Chamberlain, not James Levine. David surrenders to the backup police force that arrives as the movie ends. He had already placed the gun back in the stranger’s hand to incriminate him. With the diner waitress as a witness, he will easily be exempted from any charges.

Sympathy for the Devil (2023) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joel Kinnaman
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Runtime: 1h 30m

Where to watch Sympathy for the Devil