Winds of Silence (2023)

WARNING: spoilers Two brothers, Nick and Michael Wind, and their friend Ray Steele box in the Winds backyard, in New York, in 1991. Michael takes a life changing shot to the head when he wasn't looking from Nick. The shot puts Michael in the hospital nearly killing him, as a nail sliced through his head when he hit the ground headfirst, leaving his left arm and leg damaged, and affecting his speech. This accident has put a strain on the family. Thirty years later, the boys are all grown, and while they still live in New York, they have little to no contact since the accident. Nick, a successful Real Estate Broker, an ex-street hustler who straightened out when he adopted his wife Sami's sister's child Jessica at a young age. Jessica's mother died in Nick's arms high on drugs. Jessica, now 26, is preparing to marry William Hart, a plumber, moonlighting as a bookie, but she hasn't been loyal, carrying on a sexual relationship with Jonathon Ocampo, who works for Nick in his office and is best man to William. While Michael, is lost and never recovered, with heavy resentment toward Nick, and their father John, a popular night club singer back in his day that instigated the accident that altered his speech and mobility. Jessica goes out for the night with her maid of honor and William to play pool. That night, William ends up dead, and Michael comes home with a cut chest and bloodied, while his father helps him clean up. Michael says it was a mugger and might have killed him. Ray, who was present for Michael's accident, is now a Detective, investigates William Hart death, with his partner Dee Williams. Ray and his partner track down leads and Nick puts his own street knowledge to work to investigate. Ray learns that a custom wooden knuckle was used in Williams's death at the crime scene and was used in a Jewelry robbery twenty-five years ago by Stand-Up Stan, the father of Jonathon Ocampo. Stan has recently been missing and so has his twin brother Frank. Jonathon denies any knowledge of custom knuckles, but the Detectives are not sold on it, and Ray suspects him to be the culprit, while Dee suspects Michael as the potential culprit, because William Hart was found with twenty grand strapped to his legs, money that Michael owed him for a partial of his gambling debt and was present the time before his death at the pool hall. He changes his story to the police, and Nick when confronted, regarding the cut on his chest, as Nick takes a closer look at his brother Michael, as he has been acting strange. Michael has been seeing a therapist, Nancy Turso, who lives in the Wind house becoming intimate with her, and Nancy witnesses the behavioral changes. She eventually confides in Nick, and Nick confides in a heavily connected neighborhood fixture, Red Neri, who supplies solid information to Nick. Dee breaks into Michael's gym locker looking for evidence. They bring in Michael for questioning who handles himself well, and Jonathon, since they caught him lying, but he checks out to be cleared, but still Ray and Dee are not sold on both completely being innocent. Michael goes back to the gym locker and opens another one pulling out a gun and putting it in his pocket. Red takes Michael to a local bar he owns, Nick, and John show up. When Michael leaves the bar, the men follow him out, questioning his integrity and his honor. Nick tells him a story of a street crook who was caught stealing and fingers one of his own members to the crime, and lies about it, convincing himself he had all his basis covered, and in his own mind was innocent, but was sniffed out by many sources as being guilty, and was told to leave the state, to live as he wished. The only problem was that he was followed from day one and ended up dead as powerful people gave him ninety days of life. Michael was told that he would have to leave as well, but he would not be followed from day one, and that the powerful people would have to catch him if they wanted to hurt him, but he needed to confess. He needed to tell the truth of his involvement in William Hart's death, for Red to give him that privilege to leave town unfollowed, unharmed, and protected. Michael pulls out a gun once he hears his deceased moms name mentioned. Michael denies his involvement and confesses that William was cheating on Jessica as well, and he hit her for time to time. Michael fires a shot hitting John in the chest. The Detective's show up at the Wind's house and Sami opens Jessica's locked bedroom door and she is missing, when she was supposed to be sleeping. While this is occurring, Jonathon, (having found out about his father's custom Knuckles involving a robbery during questioning) confronts his cousin Luke, who has been living with Jonathon for the last six months, and would be the only one whose eyes have seen these special knuckles, and Jessica is sitting right there with them at the kitchen table. What becomes disturbing is the activity below the kitchen table. Jessica hands a buck knife to Luke, who in turn stabs Jonathon in his gut. Jessica punches Luke breaking his nose and using the same knife to stab Luke in his chest, all the while Jessica is wearing gloves and saran wrap around both of her sneakers. While this is happening, The Detectives, Ray and Dee, find out that William Hart had taken out a 5 Million Dollar Insurance Policy, and Jessica was the primary beneficiary upon inception of the policy that Jonathon had put in place when he worked at a bank several months ago. William was under the impression that Jessica had no idea of this, as Jonathon sworn to secrecy, but told her. The policy then becomes changed by William to reflect his Uncle Tom Hart, as sole primary beneficiary, a blind man, who has cared for him since his childhood. The next morning Jessica is in her bed, and we witness a split personality, and that Teri, an evil spirit lives in her, and that she confessed to the murders of Jonathon, and Luke, and Jessica battles for sanity. Teri planned the attack on her fiancé William, and that Luke was the one who chased William to his fatal death, as he fell down an abandoned building's street cellar door, and that Teri has had sex with Luke. At the Wind's house, everyone who has had an important involvement is present. The Detectives show and Jessica emerges from Nick's arms, as she moves towards them with confidence and a wicked smile as they look to take her into the precinct and feel "The Winds" are up to something.