John Wick’s Ballerina Movie Summary And Spoilers: Who Killed Eve's Father? And Why?

If you have a thing for flashy fight sequences, guns, grenades, and a good old tale of revenge, then Len Wiseman’s Ballerina is for you. What amazes me about the John Wick franchise is how their innovative action choreography not only lives up to their own high standards but always raises it a notch higher with every film. Ana de Armas as Eve Maccaro puts on a great show, but convenient plot twists and a predictable storyline did make the narrative seem a bit mundane. But then the franchise has always been known for its execution more than anything else. That said, let’s find out what happened in Ballerina and if Eve was able to achieve what she set out to.

Spoiler Alert

Who Killed Eve’s Father? And Why? 

It became clear at the beginning of the film that Eve’s father, Javier, was on the run, as he knew that some really dangerous people were after his life. Javier was a part of an age-old cult, and he had disobeyed certain rules, because of which his own people were after him. Javier had married a woman who was part of that cult, and he had two beautiful daughters with her. The first and foremost rule of that cult was that nobody could choose to leave and lead a separate life. Especially when there was a young child involved, the cult leader (known as the Chancellor) made sure that they were raised among the members themselves. Nobody knew where this secret community operated from, which gave them leverage over others. The other organizations or crime syndicates were a little intimidated by the cult members, as they did not have a code of conduct that the rest of them generally followed. Even when the cult members stayed at the Continental, the managers of the branch had to take great caution to make sure that they didn’t break the rules and create any sort of nuisance. The Chancellor finally found Javier, and he killed him right in front of Eve’s eyes. Eve was later rescued by Winston (the manager of the New York Continental), and he gave her the option of becoming a part of the Ruska Roma, the crime syndicate that was known to give the best training to their members. Eve, at that tender age, didn’t know the consequences her own actions were going to have on her life, but she was aware that being with the Ruska Roma was the best thing for her at that time. So Eve started her training, and the director noticed that she had all the traits to become one of the most lethal assassins. 

How did Eve find out about the cult headquarters? 

Eve had heard about the Baba Yaga, and she aspired to become like him one day. One day, she saw him in the Ruska Roma headquarters (around the time period when his dog had been killed), and like a fan, she went up to him to have a chat. John told Eve that she should make an informed choice about how she wanted her life to be. John wanted to warn her that the world she was entering was like a swamp, and there could be no escape from it. Eve wanted to take revenge for her father’s death, and she knew that her conscience wouldn’t let her stop until she did that. Eve was told by the director that she shouldn’t go hunting for the cult members, as they were dangerous people, and also there was a truce made between the Ruska Roma and the cult. Both parties had decided to not interfere in each other’s matters, and the director didn’t want to do anything to upset that truce. Through Winston, Eve got to know that there was a member of the cult named Daniel Pine who was staying in the Prague branch of the Continental Hotel. Eve went to meet him, only to find out that he too was on the run and a bounty had been declared on his head. Just like Eve’s father, he too wanted a different kind of life for his girl, Ella. Before Eve could find out more about him and the cult, the assassins arrived at their doorstep and started shooting at them. The soldiers of the cult were able to take Ella with them, but fortunately Eve and Daniel Pine both survived. Through a gun dealer in Prague, Eve got to know that the headquarters of the cult was located somewhere between the Abersee and Feldkirk peaks. Eve was able to locate the place where all the cult members lived together, Hallstatt. She was probably one of the first people to locate their base, though she had no clue that she had walked into a tiger’s den, from where there was no going back. 

What deal did Eve make with John Wick? 

Lena, who happened to be one of the high-ranking officers of the cult, paid a not-so-friendly visit to Eve soon after the latter arrived at Hallstatt. The Chancellor also didn’t know at first why Eve wanted to kill him. But the moment he realized that Eve was there to take revenge for her father’s death, he knew who she was. The Chancellor went and told Lena that Eve was her younger sister. Lena and Eve met each other, and the former had no clue that the Chancellor had ordered his men to eliminate both of them. Lena ultimately met her fateful end, but before taking her last breath, she did tell Eve about how much she’d missed her for all those years. Javier had left Lena behind because, by the time he decided to escape, Lena had become quite accustomed to the lifestyle in Hallstatt. He knew that even if he tried giving her a new life, she wouldn’t be able to adjust in the outside world, and her allegiances would remain the same. After Lena was killed, Eve unleashed her fury, so much so that the Chancellor had to make a call to the Director and ask her to do something about it. That’s when the Director sent for her best assassin, the only man who could have stopped Eve. John Wick arrived at Hallstatt, and it didn’t take him much time to find Eve. John and Eve engaged in a fistfight, and the latter got to know that she had no chance against him. Eve told John why she was there, and she requested him to let her finish what she had come there to do. John was a man who knew how grief could impact a person. He had been through something similar, and he decided that he would let Eve do what she wanted. John told Eve at 11:30 pm that she had exactly half an hour to kill the Chancellor, because after that he wouldn’t let her do anything. Eve agreed, and went all guns blazing to hunt the man who had killed her father. 

Was Eve able to get her revenge? 

Eve got to know that Daniel Pine was the Chancellor’s son, and still he had asked his men to find and kill him if that was needed. The Chancellor wanted Ella, his granddaughter, to stay in his community, and he was ready to go to extreme lengths to make her do that. Eve probably wouldn’t have made it till the end had John Wick not been on her side. John sat on a roof and kept his eyes on Eve the entire time. Eve managed to kill every assassin who came her way, and finally at the end of the film, she came face to face with the Chancellor. The Chancellor started blabbering about how killing him wouldn’t change anything, how the system worked, why she should just go back and let fate take its course. In reality he was scared. He tried his level best to manipulate Eve but to no avail. Eve shot him dead and completed her revenge. She made sure that Ella was escorted back to her father, who was still in the hospital recovering from his injuries. 

There came a twist in Ballerina’s ending, when a bounty was put on Eve’s head, and every assassin, every crime syndicate got informed about it. Eve knew what was about to come, and she was mentally prepared to deal with the conflict. Though she seemed very confident, I think she would need some help to defend herself. It would be interesting to see what happened in this John Wick spinoff, if Eve gets in touch with the Baba Yaga and if they end up making an alliance. 

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