Riders of Justice Ending Explained [SPOILER!]

SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!

Riders of Justice follows recently-deployed Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), who is forced to return home to care for his teenage daughter after his wife is killed in a tragic train accident. But when a survivor of the wrecked train surfaces claiming foul play, Markus begins to suspect his wife was murdered and embarks on a revenge-fueled mission to find those responsible.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Riders of Justice Plot Summary and Synopsis

Mathilde loses her mother in a train accident and her father, Markus, a serving soldier in Afghanistan, comes home to console his grieving daughter. Mathilde and Markus find it difficult to come to terms with the tragedy, causing strain in their relationship.

However, Markus is approached by a man named Otto (who was on the same train with Markus’s wife) who informs him that the train accident wasn’t a coincidence, but a planned murder to eliminate a key witness about to give evidence against the head of Riders of Justice motorbike gang. With the help of Otto’s friends, Lennart and Emmenthaler, the group identifies a suspicious man who left the train seconds before the accident as the brother of the Riders of Justice’s leader.

The group goes to the man’s house, intending to interrogate him for information about the accident, but Markus loses control and kills him out of anger. Lennart disposes of the evidence, and encounters a young Ukrainian boy named Bodashka. The Riders interrogate Bodashka for information, leading to their identification of Emmenthaler. The Riders attempt a drive-by shooting on the group, but Markus is able to kill the attackers and rescue Bodashka. Mathilde discovers one of the group’s meetings, and Lennart lies and explains that they are actually a therapy group attempting to help Markus with his trauma.

As the ensemble prepares another hit on the Riders of Justice, Bodashka explains that the suspicious man was not on the train; Lennart and Otto had convinced Emmenthaler to accept a less accurate facial recognition result, and the suspicious man was actually an Egyptian tourist, meaning that their crusade against the Riders of Justice was committed in error, and the evidence they relied on was a simple coincidence. Markus, learning this, breaks down in anger and frustration, finally lowering his stony facade and crying.

The next day, the Riders follow social media connections left by Mathilde’s boyfriend and attack the group at Markus’ house. Several of them are injured, Mathilde is taken hostage, and Markus is disarmed by the Riders. Otto, Lennart, and Emmenthaler, using weapons training Markus gave them earlier, ambush and kill the Riders, saving Markus and Mathilde.

Riders of Justice Ending

The movie flashes forward to Christmas, where the entire group have joined to celebrate and open presents, and Markus and Mathilde have reconciled.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).