Code 8 (2019)

Code 8 (2019) – Full Plot, Cast & Ending Explained

‘Code 8’ Movie cast and characters

‘Code 8’, is a Canadian science fiction movie and was released in 2019. The movie was directed by Jeff Chan, and the movie stars Robbie Amell as Connor Reid, Stephen Amell as Garrett, Greg Bryk as Marcus Sutcliffe, Kari Matchett as Connor’s mother, and Kyla Kane as Nia.

Introduction to the movie Code 8

At the beginning of the movie, ‘Code 8’, the government officials are shown publicly inviting the people of the city with superhuman abilities to turn up and register themselves. Lincoln City is opening and developing in a big way, and there is a high demand for people with special powers to work for its progress.

The demand in the construction and manufacturing industry is the highest, and anyone who possesses special powers is welcome, but not before they have registered themselves.

However, in this highly mechanized world, Lincoln City, also known as the city of Tomorrow, has upgraded to machines, and the highly able people are somewhat marginalized. Mostly, the work is preferred to be taken from the machines, and the talent of these people with special abilities is looked down upon, to some extent.

Moreover, even if a person with powers is given work by the government, he or she has to get registered first. People found working anywhere without getting themselves registered are arrested by the security guards.

The new drug wreaks havoc on American streets

There is a new drug that has flooded the American streets, which is known as Psyke. The main ingredient in manufacturing this drug is taken from the spinal fluid of people with special powers. The crime syndicate, known as the Trust, is instrumental in dealing with Psyke, which has grown into a big industry now.

With drug dealers paying the powered person for their spinal fluids, the powered persons are also under scrutiny. Under the present situation, the powerful people try their best to keep themselves hidden, even though they were in demand and respected earlier.

The government has formed special units, which detect the powered person by their sophisticated drones, and automated robots known as the guardians. They employ special facial recognition software in detecting people with special powers, so that the crimes that take place due to these powered people are caught and dealt with.

Connor Reed, an electrokinetic, is introduced in the movie

A class five electrokinetic, Connor Reed, lives with his mother, Mary, who used to be a crypto kinetic too. Connor Reed has the special powers to control electricity and can assimilate or dissipate electric current, as per his wish. His mother has brain cancer and is very ill.

This illness causes her to behave in a strange manner, although she is also working at a store. Conner is trying to collect money for his mother’s cancer treatment, but is finding it hard, considering the scarcity of work that comes by.

Conner works as a daily wage laborer, but in an unregistered manner, along with many other people of color. Being unregistered, it is increasingly becoming difficult to get work, as the government guardians keep cracking down on unregistered persons.

They patrol the entire city by air with their sophisticated drones and robotic guards all the time. These guardians shoot anyone without hesitation while finding any unregistered-powered people, doing jobs secretly, and trying to run away.  Even a special-powered person gets killed by the guardians while fleeing after he gets caught by them for being unregistered.

Two cops are shown raiding Apartment 106

At a location in the city, two cops, Park and Davis, conduct raids on Apartment 106, as part of a Psyke operation. Eight people are held, who were giving their spinal fluids for the manufacturing of the Psyke for money. The drugs, worth $1 million, are also seized from the apartment. 

The premises are suspected to be owned by the Crime lord Marcus Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe is an agent of the drug mafia, called the trust, and a wanted man for the Psyke manufacturing.

Here, Conner Reed, while waiting for a daily wager job on the street, is approached by Garret for a job with his team. Garret, who is also a powered person, along with his team, works for Sutcliffe. Although Reed is advised against going with Garret by his friend, he decides to go with him, as he has to arrange money for his mother.

Garret uses Reed’s powers to neutralize an electric gate, running with a high current, to steal chemicals from a factory in his vehicle. They dodge the guardians by changing the color of their vehicle to bypass the scanning from the drones. After that, Garrett takes Reed to Sutcliffe to introduce him.

Here, Sutcliffe is confronted by Wesley Cumbo, another member of the trust but superior to him. Wesley demands his share of the expected money, which he was supposed to get.

He also asks Sutcliffe, who is a mind reader too, to look into the eyes of his personal assassin, Copperhead, and make out what she thinks. Sutcliffe reads her mind and gets to know that she is thinking of different ways to execute Sutcliffe. Wesley gives a week’s time to Sutcliffe and warns him of the consequences if he doesn’t pay within the week’s deadline, given to him.

Sutcliffe and Nia are introduced to Reed

Reed gets introduced to Sutcliffe and Nia, who is supposed to be his girlfriend. Garrett tells Sutcliffe that Conner Reed is a useful person and can be utilized to their advantage. But he needs time to train Reed before employing him in any project. Garrett tells Reed to work for them, as he has great potential, which can earn him a good amount of money.

Park and Davis reach the theft spot to investigate the loss. They assess the chemicals that were stolen by Sutcliffe, for Psyke manufacturing, which, as per them, shows his desperation.

Before employing Reed, Garret wants to make sure that he is trustworthy and asks about his credentials and why he wants to join them. Reed tells him that his mother is sick, and he needs money. Garret is satisfied and employs him so that he gets the money for her treatment.

He begins to train Reed on how to utilize his powers as per their requirement. Now Sutcliffe makes his team rob a bank so that he gets the money to repay The Trust. Reed tells his mother that he got the job, and both of them are happy.

In the meantime, Park and Davis are keeping a tab on every powered person after the theft at the chemical factory. They watch Reed from outside his home and discuss keeping a watch on him also. Garret takes Reed to the bank for a recce, so that they can make a plan before robbing the bank.

The bank raid takes place

And finally, when they raid the bank, they are astonished to find that the vault only contains $50,000. They get to know that the bank has retrieved the cash, that day only. While they are fleeing, they are confronted by the guardians of the drone, but Reed uses his electric powers to short-circuit the drone and bring it down on the ground.

Here, Sutcliffe gets more frustrated that they got only $50,000 from robbing the bank. Sutcliffe has a heated argument with Garret about the mishandling of the operation and tries to show that the entire business is his alone.

Wesley’s assassin, Copperhead, attacks Sutcliffe for not paying the debt back, even after the deadline. But Reed helps to thwart the attack, and, in the fight, Copperhead gets shot dead by Sutcliffe’s bodyguard Rhino, who has bulletproof skin.

In this attack, Reed gets wounded in the arm, while Tia also learns about this. She reveals to Reed that she is a healer who has been kept by Sutcliffe, only for his healing.

Tia heals Connor Reed of his wound in the arm with her healing powers. She tells Reed that she has to pay the debt of his father, which is why she is with Sutcliffe, and she is not his girlfriend.

Now, when Reed’s mother gets to see the money, she confronts him and asks him about it. Reed reveals that they need money, and there is no other way out than to do more than the normal job, which is also scarce.

His mother has an attack and has to be rushed to the hospital. The doctor tells Reed that her tumor is spreading faster than they thought, and she needs to be operated on soon.

Reed is taken for questioning by the officers

Reed is taken for questioning by Officer Park and Officer Davis in connection with the chemical theft at the factory and the robbery at the bank. When Connor Reed denies knowing anything, they tell him that much of the Psyke and the money have already been recovered from Sutcliffe.

They know about his mother’s sickness, too. They tell him that he needs to cooperate in giving them leads about Sutcliffe. Officer Davis wants to raid Reed’s home and plant the Psyke in his home in order to force Reed to cooperate.

However, Officer Park wants to let him go, as they don’t have solid evidence against him. Finally, Reed is released by them for the lack of evidence. Garret takes Reed to Sutcliffe, who stares into his eyes, to check whether Reed revealed anything to the cops.

He gets convinced that Reed has not given any leads to the cops by looking into Reed’s eyes and reading his mind.

Garret, along with Reed, suggests to Sutcliffe that they raid the Psyke run and compensate for the losses that they have incurred. Reed tells Sutcliffe that he will get the Psyke, and in return, he wants Tia to heal his mother.

Sutcliffe agrees to the idea, but Tia is very upset with this. Garret also tells Sutcliffe that from now on, they shall be partners, as the area is too big for a single person to handle. With a little hesitation, Sutcliffe agrees and gives his nod.

The plan for the assault is executed

They start the preparations for the assault and devise a plan. Each one has to divide the roles between them. Garret tells them that due to huge towers in the middle of Lincoln City, the drones are not allowed to cross the area, and it is, therefore, a no-fly zone.

That is where they plan to launch the attack. Garret also informs them that the truck has four guards inside, and these kinds of trucks can withstand any shock, even ten times more than the drones can absorb. He gives the responsibility of the attack on the truck to Reed, who has to use his electrical powers to generate a shockwave on the truck.

On the day of the actual attack, first, they deviate the truck of the cops, by a fake barrier, and then force the truck to change the route. They compel them to use the route, which was a no-fly zone for the drones.

When the cops move ahead, Garret blocks the road with a huge trawler and pretends to be stuck. Cops with the truck warn him to clear the road. When they are stuck, Reed uses his immense powers to attack the standing truck when it enters the no-fly zone, which was without the drone and guardian’s support. 

The truck is shorted out, and the guardians with the truck fell down due to the shock waves. Maddy, the team member of Garret, hands over the Psyke taken away from the cops to Sutcliffe’s bodyguard, Rhino. Sutcliffe’s men first shoot the guardians and the cops, and then they start to shoot Garret’s team.

Maddy gets killed, and Freddie, the mute-powered man, gets seriously wounded. Reed and Garrett help Freddie escape. Sutcliff’s bodyguard, Rhino, also escapes along with the Psyke.

The drones enter the no-fly zone and drop additional guardians, killing Sutcliffe’s men. Garret and Reed manage to leave the spot, but Freddie dies on the way. Reed blames Garret for this incident, as he tells Garret that Sutcliffe attacked them because Garret wanted an equal share in the Psyke business.

They discuss that Sutcliffe has betrayed them. Here, the Cops discuss that it was not right to free Reed and let him get away. However, Park tries to defend his decision, and Davis explains how that decision was not right in front of their boss. Officer Park is shown visiting his daughter, who lives with her mother.

She is also a powered child and fears that she will be given away by his parents for possessing special powers, and not being able to control them. Reed sends a message to Park to meet him and tells him that he will be giving away Sutcliff’s hideout address.

On Reed’s tip-off, the Cops arrange a raid with full force and kill many of Sutcliffe’s men. However, Sutcliffe manages to escape from the cops with Nia and his bodyguard, Rhino, but is confronted by Garret. He shoots both Sutcliffe and his bodyguard, Rhino.

Sutcliffe is hit, and his bodyguard is killed too

Sutcliffe gets hit and is down, but Rhino, who has bulletproof skin, takes the bullets out of his body. He and Garret fight it out, but Rhino is too strong. Reed comes to Garret’s rescue, and both of them fight with Rhino, who is equal to the task.

When Rhino just manages to overpower Reed, Garret injures Rhino’s eyes with a sharp tool, and Reed finishes him off with his electric power.

Here, Sutcliffe asks Nia to heal him quickly at gunpoint, but she refuses. Sutcliffe dies, and Garrett has all the Psyke for himself now. Reed asks Nia to come with him and heal his mother, and after that, she can be free. She is reluctant, since whoever she heals up, that person’s disease gets transmitted to Nia.

However, Garret urges Reed to do what he has come for. Nia is at the hospital to heal Reed’s mother. She is in the process of healing, but this transmits enormous pain to her. Reed stops her and tells her not to do it, as he can’t see her in pain. Ultimately, Reed’s mother dies at the hospital.

Reed finally wants to surrender to the police

After that, Reed is seen taking Nia in his vehicle and stopping in front of the police station. He tells Nia that she can take the vehicle and go wherever she wants to. He wants to surrender to the police. Officers Park and Davis get rewarded for their bravery in controlling the drug mafia. There is a proposed bill that calls for an all-out Power ban in Lincoln City.

Garret hands over the consignment to Wesley Cumbo, the strongman of the trust. Wesley appreciates his honesty, and Garret tells him that there are many business possibilities in the future, too. Garret says that since the Cops are getting hard on them, there will be a higher demand for the Psyke.

Reed visits his mother’s grave and bids her farewell. In the ending scene, Nia visits her father in jail with teary eyes, but both are happy to see each other, and the movie ‘Code 8’ ends there.

Some frequently asked questions from the movie ‘Code 8″