With only a limited theatrical release outside the US, We Die Young went straight to video in North America, and its lack of profits isn’t made up for with accolades. We Die Young‘s current Netflix success is another in a long line of examples of streaming services opening the doors to redemption for failed films. The veteran is testing a car he just worked on when he runs into the fleeing Lucas and Miguel.
That’s when Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Daniel gets involved. When he tries to run, the ambitious Jester (Charlie MacGechan) uses it as an excuse to pursue him, in hopes of getting closer to wearing MS-13’s crown. After he receives orders to make a delivery outside the gang’s territory, he learns it’s a ruse to distract him as the gang initiates his younger brother. While Lucas starts off as a loyal member of the gang, he’s insistent that his younger brother have nothing to do with with MS-13. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Nicholas Sean Johnny in We Die Young (2019) Availing himself of the services of the young drug dealer Lucas (Elijah Rodriguez) to help ease his symptoms, Daniel ends up coming into conflict with the dangerous gang MS-13 when Lucas and his younger brother Miguel (Nicholas Sean Johnny) try to escape the gang’s influence. He’s also voiceless, having been hit in the throat with shrapnel during the war. Van Damme plays Daniel, a veteran of the Afghanistan War who suffers from PTSD. In We Die Young, Jean-Claude Van Damme isn’t the cartoonishly bold martial arts master fans of his 1980’s action fare might be used to.