Bruiser follows the story of Darious, a teenage boy who forms a connection with a loner, who later turns out to be his biological father. The movie is now streaming on Hulu.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Monica picks up her son, Darious, from school. The mother-son duo gets along as they head back home, listening to Otis Redding’s ‘Cigarettes and Coffee’.
It’s summertime, and Darious doesn’t know what he will be doing as all of his friends from his prestigious school, including his girlfriend, are on trips to exotic locations.
Since shifting to this new, quiet town, Darious has also lost touch with his friends from the city. He talks to his overprotective father, Malcolm, and asks for just a new bike.
Malcolm, instead, pitches him several ways he could fix his old bike. Malcolm and Monica have worked really hard to raise Darious right, and they seem to be only spending on things that matter.
One fine day, Darious gets involved in a scuffle with one of his friends. It starts off as a joke and soon turns into a real fight where Darious gets beaten.
Darious walks away from his friends and finds a man named Porter, who is living on a houseboat at the Jon House. Porter inquires if Darious has been in a fight, and Darious, on the other hand, wonders what Porter is doing at the Jon House.
Darious tells Porter who Jon is and that his father worked for him. Porter reveals that he worked for Jon too and guesses that Darious is probably Malcolm’s son.
Back home, Malcolm talks things out with Darious, attempting to convince him that getting into fights won’t take him anywhere.
The next day, Darious decides to go meet Porter again instead of hanging out with his friends. He watches Porter do some sort of exercise and asks him to teach him how to fight or defend himself—something his father won’t teach him.
Monica receives a call from Porter, who insists that they should meet. Monica informs Malcolm that Porter is in town, and she believes that it’s time that they should forgive him for everyone’s good.
At Hector’s restaurant, Malcolm and Monica meet Porter to talk about their situation. It is then revealed that Darious is not Malcolm’s biological son.
Darious is Porter and Monica’s son. Monica gave birth to him when they were very young. Porter wasn’t ready to take the responsibility of a son, and therefore, he walked out on her. That’s when Malcolm, who was once Porter’s brother, stepped in to raise Darious by marrying Monica.
All Porter wants is to be in Darious’ life now. He apologizes for what he did and is ready to meet Darious, only if they allow him to. Furthermore, he restarts his friendship with Malcolm and Monica by being honest. He lets them know that he has already accidentally met Darious.
Malcolm and Porter quarrel over raising Darious right. Monica believes they need more time to discuss. Despite Malcolm’s reluctance to tell Darious the truth, the couple agrees to let him know that Porter is his father.
Darious doesn’t freak out or anything. He accepts this news. He certainly feels more open around Porter, unlike when he is with Malcolm. This causes him to flee to Porter whenever he indulges in an argument with Malcolm.
Malcolm, Monica, and Porter agree to go to a fair together with Darious so that they can get comfortable with each other.
At the fair, Porter and Darious make Malcolm and Monica wait and worry about where their son is while they hop from one ride to the other. When Malcolm and Monica finally find them, they try to take Darious away from Porter, believing that Porter hasn’t changed a bit.
After watching Malcolm overreact, Porter asks him to stop pretending to be Darious’ father. A furious Malcolm takes Porter down in one blow upon hearing that.
Bruiser ending explained in detail:
Why does Darious defy Malcolm?
Darious never saw his father like this before. Back home, Malcolm is forced to explain to Darious what kind of person Porter is. Porter once beat a kid to the point where he gave that kid brain damage.
Porter still continues to stay around Darious, and his influence on him grows. Darious almost ends up beating a friend of his, just like Porter.
At night, Porter visits Darious, and the latter asks him to clarify whether he really gave brain damage to a kid. Porter tells Darious the whole truth, which Malcolm won’t tell. It turns out that Malcolm also helped Porter beat that kid back then.
The revelation ruins the already broken relationship between Darious and Malcolm. Darious fails to see how Malcolm is trying to get him the best education and life possible. Malcolm even gifts him the bike he always wanted, hoping to fix everything.
At the same time, Malcolm also takes measures to keep Porter away. He calls the cops on him who warn Porter to leave the houseboat he is living in the next day, or else they have his criminal past to arrest him
Porter comes to confront Malcolm at the house but is asked to leave. Darious gets sick of Malcolm’s lies where he claims to be a better person than Porter. Darious defies him, and at night, when Porter visits him after leaving the houseboat, he escapes with him.
Does Malcolm find Darious?
Malcolm wakes up at night to the sound of Porter’s bike, but he doesn’t find anyone outside. Porter and Darious dine at Hector’s restaurant.
Hector, over the years, has become a close friend of Malcolm and Monica. He notices Darious with Porter and wastes no time in calling Malcolm.
While Malcolm leaves to bring Darious back, Hector, his granddaughter, June, who is also Darious’ friend, and the waitress try to take Darious away from Porter.
Porter loses his cool as he doesn’t like what is going on. He grabs his son and leaves the place. In the process, he knocks down an elderly Hector. Darious can’t sum up what just happened. Malcolm keeps calling Darious. Porter tells him not to take the call.
The phone keeps ringing, forcing Porter to throw it away. Darious attempts to calm Porter down and convince him to stop the truck. When nothing works, he calls him ‘dad’. Porter then listens to his son. He lets him get out of the truck and walk away.
Malcolm saw Porter’s truck leaving the restaurant. He followed them all the way and saw his son walking away from Porter. He stopped his car, came out, hugged his son, and assured him that everything will be alright.
Who does Darious end up with?
Darious sits back in Malcolm’s car. Malcolm watches Porter, and soon a fight begins. At one point, Darious feels like one of them has died, but no, the fight continues with none of them coming out on top.
Done with this whole drama, Darious takes control of his father’s vehicle. He drives away, listening to Otis Redding’s ‘Cigarettes and Coffee’.
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