The Boondock Saints
1999 · Directed by Troy Duffy
Two Irish brothers in Boston decide God wants them to kill mobsters. Willem Dafoe plays an opera-loving FBI agent. It's a mess. It's also a religion for a certain kind of dude.
Why It's Cult
The Boondock Saints is objectively not a great film. The writer-director crashed his career so hard there's a documentary about it (Overnight — watch it as a double feature). And yet. The prayer. The crime scene reconstruction ballet. The fact that you know someone with the prayer tattooed on them. That's cult.
The Plot, Officially
Two Irish brothers accidentally kill mafia thugs. They turn themselves in and are released as heroes. They then see it as a calling by God and start knocking off mafia gang members one by one. Willem Dafoe plays the detective trying to figure out the killings, but the closer he comes to catching the Irish brothers, the more he thinks the brothers are doing the right thing.
Gateway Scenes
Act 1, the prayer
The brothers recite the Saints prayer before the first job. "And shepherds we shall be..."
This is why people love this movie. Watch this scene, decide if you're in.
Starring
Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus
Where to Watch
via JustWatch →
