Directed by Kamel Guemra, Carjackers is the story of an organized criminal gang that was headed by a girl named Nora. The film tells us the story of the complications that arose during Nora’s mission and how she was able to overcome them. Carjackers does not give us any insight into the past lives of these characters, so we never get to know the real reason behind the somberness. They did rob people, but the director made us feel like they were victims of their circumstances and not necessarily bad souls. But then he leaves it up to the audience to decipher what must have happened to them in the past, which makes the narrative seem a bit superficial, at least to me. That said, let’s find out what happened to Nora and if she was able to save herself.
Spoiler Alert
What was Elias hired to do?
Elias was a mercenary, a hired gun who worked for the rich and the powerful. The man did anything you asked of him, provided he was compensated handsomely. Elias knew how the system worked, which is why he had a cardinal rule that he lived by at all times. He believed that if one wanted to prosper, one should work for the rich and never ever commit the mistake of going against them. Elias had no conscience, and he did whatever was asked of him. One day, Elias was in between jobs when he got a call from the management of the Imperial Hotel. A gang had carjacked a rich man, and the management wanted him to find the perpetrators before they struck again. Elias had an eye for detail, and he was pretty good at what he did. The man who was robbed was with two escorts when the robbers attacked him. One of the escorts got gravely injured, and the robbers made sure that she was admitted to the hospital. Nora was the leader of the gang, and she had been in the business for many years. Together with Steve, Joe and Prestance, her gang members, she had robbed many rich people, though she and the group had always made sure that nobody died in the process. They worked in a very organized manner, because they knew that if they did not execute their job neatly, then the police would come after them, and they wouldn’t be able to keep going on for long. This time around, all of them got a bit scared as the escort nearly got killed. Nora and her gang worked in the Imperial Hotel itself, which allowed them to narrow down on targets and robbed them once they checked out from the hotel. Elias had a hunch that he would find the perpetrators right there in the hotel, which was why he started interrogating the staff. He had a chat with the escort, too, after she got released from the hospital. Even though the escort recognized Nora, she didn’t tell Elias anything about it. Elias decided to stay in the same hotel until he caught the perpetrators. When he was interrogating the escort, he saw Nora driving a guest’s car from the parking lot. The way she drove made Elias realize that she could be one of the gang members. He didn’t say anything to her as he didn’t have any evidence to know for sure, but he started keeping track of her movements.
Was Nora able to take revenge on Peter Vandervielt?
Nora’s original plan was to rob a lady named Debra Ford, who happened to be a gun dealer. But before that plan could be executed, something happened at the Imperial Hotel, after which Nora felt compelled to change her next target. One of Nora’s colleagues, who worked in the housekeeping department, was raped by the son of a diamond merchant, Peter Vandervielt. After the incident, Peter had the audacity to use his contacts and order the hotel management to settle the matter and pay the woman some money. The management agreed because Peter was an important customer, and they didn’t want to go against him. Nora couldn’t imagine that people could be so inhumane. She didn’t want to let Peter off so easily, so she told her gang that, instead of the dealer, she wanted to rob Peter. Steve and the others were a little apprehensive as they did not want to blow their cover and commit a sizable mistake. But Nora convinced them, and they all went after Peter. Elias, by that point, had become pretty sure that Nora was running the gang, but he wanted to catch her red-handed. Seeing her lose her temper after her colleague got abused. Elias knew that she would go after Peter. Elias’ hunch proved to be right, but Nora was still able to rob Peter and make a near escape. What Nora didn’t know was that Peter was smart enough to put a tracker on the diamonds. Elias was able to figure out where the gang was putting up, and he reached the house unannounced. Elias killed Steve, Zoe, and Prestance, but Nora was once again able to escape.
Nora was shattered, and somewhere, she blamed herself for the death of her gang members, who were like family to her. Nora’s mentor, Luis, someone who had been in the business back in the day, advised her to take revenge on Peter. He told Nora that she would be able to sleep better at night if she made Peter pay for what he did. So Nora, without caring about her life, went to the Imperial Hotel, caught hold of Peter, and before Elias could come to his rescue, shot him dead. Nora took her revenge, but she didn’t know that Elias had a trump card that he was going to use to get leverage on her.
Was Elias able to catch Nora?
Nora had gotten close to a man named Jalil, who was a pianist who’d been hired by the hotel to play there. Nora never wanted to get attached to anybody, because she knew that in her line of business, that was tantamount to a sin. Nora, deep down, knew that she couldn’t ever have a life with Jalil, but her heart was just not ready to accept it. Nora told Jalil the truth about her, and as she expected, Jalil decided to part ways. Jalil had a young daughter, and he knew that he couldn’t put the life of his little one in jeopardy just because he had fallen for a girl. Nora made peace with that fact, but after she killed Peter, Elias used Jalil as leverage against her. Elias had gotten to know that Nora and Jalil were romantically involved, so he brought Jalil with him at gunpoint and asked Nora to give him all the money. Nora took Elias to the place where she had hidden the money, but she had no plan to hand it over to him. Nora pounced on Elias with a knife, and she gravely injured him.
In Carjackers’ ending, Nora killed Elias and, in a way, avenged the death of her team members. Jalil saw Nora stabbing Elias like a maniac, and he left, probably regretting his decision to get romantically involved with her. Nora had no option but to carry on. She took the money and left the scene, leaving Elias’ dead body behind. Nora will probably change cities and lie low for some time as the police will be on the hunt for her. She has not only killed Elias but Peter too, and I believe that the latter’s father, who was a powerful man, won’t stop until he finds Nora. This further suggests that we can expect a sequel, though it depends upon the success of this film and the love it receives from the audience, which in my opinion, look slim.
