The Equalizer is a 2014 American vigilante action-thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Richard Wenk. It is based on the 1980s TV series of the same title and the first of three films starring Denzel Washington. The cast includes Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo. Washington plays Robert McCall, a retired Marine and former DIA officer, who reluctantly returns to action to protect a teenage trafficking victim from the members of the Russian mafia.

Plot

Robert McCall, a former Marine and retired DIA/DCS officer, lives in Boston and works at a big-box home improvement store. He helps his colleague Ralphie train to become a security guard. Unable to sleep, McCall often spends late nights reading at an all-night diner, where he befriends Teri, a teenage sex worker trafficked by the Russian mafia. One evening, Teri shares that her real name is Alina and that she dreams of becoming a singer. McCall and Alina take a stroll, but Alina's pimp Slavi abruptly arrives, hits her and forces her into a car. Slavi hands McCall a business card for their escort service before driving away.