The Fox (2017)

Irish born Simon Fox recently started working as a liaison officer with Europol in The Hague after accidentally shooting a child in his previous job as a sergeant in the Irish police force. Adjusting to what is mainly a desk job, Simon is confronted with the death of his father, a RAF veteran, with whom he had a troubled relationship.

Officially still working, whilst attending his father's funeral, Simon is asked to look into a murder case. Much to the dismay of his family, he immediately leaves for The Netherlands to assist local detective Mark de Koster who is investigating the death of an old man, who apparently fell down the stairs. The old man's house reveals a concrete cellar, empty, apart from one 9mm round. Mark is convinced the cellar was used as a weapon's stash by agents from 'Operation Gladio', a stay behind network set up after World War 2, to provide support for the resistance in case the Russians would invade. Plagued by sleep deprivation and depression from the shooting incident in his past, Simon feels Mark is a bit of a conspiracy theorist and reports a natural death to his boss Jean D'Arnaud. Simon and his partner Thijs van Houten return to a case of car smugglers, but their work is being frustrated by Crown Prosecutor Mathilda Brand, a woman who strictly follows protocol. Then Simon gets a message saying Mark de Koster has died in an accident. Mark's widow urges Simon to visit her yet Simon postpones the visit. Simon finally takes his leave to sift through his father's belongings. One of the things he finds is an 8mm roll of film showing Nazis executing resistance fighters in 1945. Simon visits his aunt who confirms Simon's father was shot down over Holland and subsequently set up a resistance group eventually leading to 'Operation Gladio'. Simon finds out his father appointed him guardian of one of the weapon's stashes, which turns out to be at the address of the deceased old man. After visiting Mark's widow and obtaining evidence of the whereabouts of other stashes, Simon sets of to investigate, finding out that the old man was murdered and the weapons from the stash stolen, to serve as the means to turn Holland into a police state. His boss D'Arnaud however, side tracks him, promising to put a team on the case. Simon seeks contact with a politician called Ben Somers who was supposed to meet Mark de Koster to talk about the things Mark found out about a right wing politician named De Poorter. This man is very likely using 'Gladio' to scare the public into voting for a new anti-privacy law. When driving towards their meeting point, Simon and Ben Somers get tangled up in a sudden attack on a traffic jam. Gunmen murder Ben Somers and kill and wound many others in the process. It is also clear Simon is a target too. Shooting one of the gunmen, Simon survives and is able to take a wounded child to hospital in time to save it's life. Not trusting anyone, Simon investigates on his own and finds out the weapons from 'Gladio' are being used in fowl political play. However, even his ambitious partner Thijs seems to be against him, which leads Simon to flee into a nature reserve to avoid capture by D'Arnauds men, who now clearly is an important figure in the political power struggle. Thijs eventually finds Simon and after some tense moments, it becomes clear Thijs changed for the better and wants to help. But it is too late, D'Arnauds henchmen have located Simon's hide-out and a chase follows. Acting as a decoy, Thijs lures the attackers away while Simon escapes. Thijs is however killed by his pursuers. Still holding the evidence of the stolen weapons and the murder of the old man, Simon decides he wants to do his father justice and stop the political violence. The only one he can trust is the rigid Crown Prosecutor Mathilda Brand. Simon finally manages to beat D'Arnaud's remaining goons and reaches Mathilda. She arranges a press conference after which Simon feels safe again and resolves to go after D'Arnaud. Mathilda, obviously knowing more than she shares, asks Simon to wait and both are subsequentially witness to D'Arnaud's execution in the street. Higher powers seem to be at play but Mathilda urges Simon to stand back.