A young woman discovers an unconscious man in the woods. He awakens with no memory but his past soon comes to haunt them.

SYNOPSIS:

Ana walks through the forest near her small Oregon town, gathering mistletoe and singing to herself. She glances up to see a tether hanging from a tree. Curious, she follows it up with her eyes to the next tree where a man dangles from a tattered parachute. “Help me,” is all he can muster before falling unconscious. When the stranger awakens, he is alone in a large and stately orphanage. Confused and weak, he wanders downstairs where he finds a plate of gingerbread cookies. Starving, he devours them ravenously. He is discovered by one of the owners, an old woman, who scolds him taking the “orphan’s cookies.” Ana soon comes to visit the Stranger, who calls her the “Mistletoe Girl” as all he remembers is her basket of spilled mistletoe after he startled her. Aside from this, he remembers nothing. Not his name, where he came from, or why he was stuck in a parachute. Ana jokingly calls him “The Gingerbread Man” as that’s what the old lady keeps referring to him as. She shows him the ID he had on him. It shows his name as Joseph Carbon. There’s also a reservation ticket for a hotel in Bucharest. Neither rings any bells in his memory. Carbon spends a few days recovering. He mostly keeps to himself, but one night he is surprised by one of the orphans and reacts so suddenly that he frightens the kid. After this, the old man and his wife start asking him questions that he cannot answer. The old man muses that sometimes a blow to the head can cause people to suffer temporary amnesia allowing them to “be a new person.” He says his memory may return in time. Carbon decides he can no longer impose on the couple’s hospitality and decides to move on. First, Carbon asks Ana to take him to the place where she found him. He wants to see if there are any clues to his origins or anything that could trigger his memory. As Carbon and Ana approach the site they see two men wandering around the area. Carbon is instantly wary and tries to sneak away with Ana. They run straight into one of the men, who attacks her. Instinctively Carbon defends her, defeating him with incredible precision and ferocity. The other man attacks as well but is quickly dispatched. Terrified, Ana tries to run. Carbon gives chase. She is about to call to some nearby police when he catches her. Carbon calms her down, convincing her he means no harm and will go on his way. “If I see you again,” she warns, “I’ll go to the police.” Carbon returns to the woods to search the dead men. On them, he finds photos of Ana and an older gentleman. Carbon is unsure of the meaning of the photos but suddenly fears that Ana might be in danger. He decides he has to warn her. Meanwhile, Ana is on her way home, but she’s being stealthily followed. A thin-faced man follows her all the way to her third floor apartment and waits for her to enter. He’s about to surprise her when Carbon reaches her house. He interrupts the interloper. There’s a scuffle and the man flees after Carbon wins a knife fight against him, cutting the stranger’s hand badly in the process. With the danger gone for the moment, Carbon shows Ana the photos he found on the men he killed. She tells him it’s her and her grandfather and that he lives outside of Bucharest. Having seen Carbon save her life once more, she agrees to go to Bucharest with him to find out more. Carbon gives her one of the pistols he took from the men. She tries to refuse, but he tells her “just in case.” The action switches to a new pair in this story. Raynard is in a hotel room with his lover and boss, Claire Russell, when they get a call warning them that Carbon has become a rogue agent. Russell orders Raynard to take care of the situation. Raynard agrees to look into the situation but insists “that agent would never go rogue.” Carbon and Ana board the train to Bucharest the next morning, but not without company. Carbon notices a man following them. Carbon doesn’t make a move until they are safely on the train and in transit. When they are well on their way, he approaches the man and “bumps” into him. He realizes from the wound on the man’s hand that he’s the man he fought in Ana’s apartment the day before. Carbon forces him into an empty compartment and demands to know who he is and what he knows. The man reveals his name is Trent, and he is an agent that is supposedly working on the same side as Carbon. Carbon is totally confused by the talk of “agents” and has no idea what Trent means. Sensing that something is very wrong Trent attempts to kill Carbon but is himself killed when Carbon defends himself. Trent, now deceased, never checks in with Raynard, who surmises that something is definitely wrong and informs Claire. “Carbon is a legend,” he says. Claire takes the information coldly. “Then send a legend after him,” she says. Raynard decides to send three legends. Agents Ryder, Bacon and Torrez are sent to figure out the situation. The men meet each other in a small bar. Ryder is the most proper of the three, dressing immaculately and drinking expensively; Bacon is a large man who smokes cigars; Torrez is powerfully built and handsome; he flirts with the waitress and is a charmer. Each is a legend in his own right and used to working alone. They spend some time comparing histories and deeds, trying to one-up the others, before they settle into an uneasy alliance and plan their next move to take out Carbon. The train arrives in Bucharest. Carbon and Ana head to the hotel on Carbon’s reservation ticket. His name is recognized at the hotel and they have a room ready for them. Carbon finds there is a package waiting for him. Inside is a set of numbers he doesn’t understand, a wad of cash, a unique military style pistol, and the now familiar picture of Ana and her grandfather. Carbon doesn’t reveal the existence of the package to Ana. They stay the night. Ana tells him about her childhood, about how she was left alone after her parents died, until eventually her grandfather returned to Europe and took care of her. Her parents’ death still pains her. “Sometimes I envy you,” she tells him. “Without a memory, you can’t be hurt by the past.” He replies, “Actually it can hurt you more.” In the morning Ryder, Bacon and Torrez arrive as Carbon and Ana leave the hotel. The three men follow them into the countryside but soon lose sight of them. They finally come upon Carbon and Ana’s abandoned car and while they examine it Carbon ambushes them, successfully killing Torrez and Bacon. Ryder gets away and runs off into the nearby forest. Having lost contact with his men, Raynard goes into Bucharest to finish the job himself. Carbon and Ana reach her grandfather’s house, a lavish manor in the woods. His name is Leonard Constantine. After a few days Leonard and Carbon gain a mutual admiration for each other but it’s not long before Leonard figures out who Carbon is: a hit man sent to kill Leonard. The mysterious numbers are revealed to be GPS coordinates for his home. In a private conversation with Carbon, Leonard reveals that he was a chemist who refused a request to weaponize a strain of anthrax by the US government. Because of his refusal and his intimate knowledge of the weapons program, the Government fears him and wants him eliminated. Leonard accuses Carbon of being a government agent and the pieces of the puzzle start to fall together. Carbon realizes that he has to be right, even though he doesn’t remember any of this himself. He decides it’s best and safest for Ana, whom he’s fallen in love with, if he leaves. Carbon quietly gathers his things and goes to leave when Ana shows up, the gun he gave her earlier pointed at him.[JS1] She confronts him and admits she overheard part of the conversation. She’s angry: “You brought danger to us and you can’t leave us until you fix this! You can’t leave me!” She has finally let herself get close to someone and now feels like Carbon is abandoning her. She’s going to be left alone again, just like she was after her parents died. They are interrupted by a gunshot. Raynard has shown up. He kills Leonard and goes after Ana and Carbon. There’s a fight and Carbon is wounded. But when Raynard tries to finish him off, Carbon gets the upper hand. Raynard tries one more play for his life, saying he can tell Carbon who he really is. Raynard tells him that he is an elite killer and they are on the same side. Carbon is cold. He says, “I don’t remember any of that.” Then he finishes Raynard off. Carbon gets Ana to safety and puts her on the train to another city, leaving her with his money, telling her that in order to be safe, she has to be away from him, at least until he can stop the people who are after him. They part, and Carbon throws his fake ID in a trash at the train station. He’s ready to start a new life. Carbon goes back to his hotel room but is surprised by the forgotten Ryder who is waiting for him. Carbon tells him Raynard is dead and there’s no reason for further hostility. Ryder says this is about his professional work ethic. They have a quick-draw duel: both go down. But when the police show up, they only find one body. Meanwhile, Claire Russell has come to Bucharest to meet Raynard. She goes to her hotel room. Inside she turns on the light and finds Carbon, gun in hand, waiting for her. “I remember now,” Carbon says gravely. A few days later, Ana is living in the city when, to her surprise, Carbon shows up. They walk away together, ready to start a new life.