Wanted Man 2024

During a tense drug deal, two groups exchange cash for illicit drugs when masked gunmen suddenly open fire, killing everyone except two witnesses who manage to flee the chaos. The two witnesses, Rosa Barranco and Leticia, escape the gunfire and flee through the tense streets.

Detective Travis Johansen is summoned by his boss Hernandez to the case, learning that a DEA sting operation has turned deadly and that the two missing witnesses must be brought in from Mexico. To build a case, Travis reconnects with his old team, meeting up with his pals Hilts, Brynner and Tinelli at a nightclub, where they discuss the evolving situation and the risks of a case that seems to involve corrupt authorities as much as criminals.

The following day, a police escort brings two handcuffed women—Rosa and Leticia—toward San Diego, but another police car catches up and killers disguised as cops strike, killing Leticia and wounding Travis. The sequence leaves Travis disoriented and searching for a way to protect the surviving witness while understanding who is truly involved.

When Travis regains his bearings, he awakens handcuffed in Rosa’s cousin’s home. Rosa explains they are now in her relative’s house and warns that she has already seen the murders—the shooters were actually American cops. She tells him she heard one killer recognize a DEA agent and say, “We used to work together,” a clue that convinces Travis to pursue witness protection for Rosa and himself.

Over a shared meal at the Mexican home, cartel members demand that Rosa surrender Travis to them. In the ensuing firefight, Rosa’s cousin dies and her brother is wounded, but Rosa and Travis manage to fend off most attackers. With danger escalating, they decide to drive back toward the United States, and when they pause to call Hernandez, Rosa admits she doesn’t trust American cops, so Travis reaches out to his longtime allies instead.

As the group pushes toward the border, Rosa notices Brynner’s bracelet and recalls him from the earlier shooting, cryptically saying these are “wolves,” implying that Brynner and his associates orchestrated the DEA agent’s murder. Travis asks to pull the car over, and Brynner finally confesses that he killed the DEA agent, asserting that Rosa must be silenced to erase the witnesses. A brutal struggle follows, and Hilts, Brynner and Tinelli are all shot and killed.

With the danger still looming, Rosa and Travis cross the border in the dead of night on an illegal Coyote route, only to be detained by American immigration authorities. They manage to convince the officers of their story and are released, starting a precarious path to safety.

Five months later, back in the United States, [Hernandez] congratulates [Travis Johansen] on bringing the criminals to justice. Rosa reveals that the DA cut her a deal to become a US citizen, and the pair heads out for coffee, weighing the fragile balance between truth, loyalty, and the pursuit of justice.