RAW WOUNDS

His third adventure recalls private eye Nicolas "Po" Villere and his partner, ex-cop Tess Grey, back to his roots in Baton Rouge for the world’s worst, and most eventful, homecoming.

Po wastes no tears over the impending death of his mother, who was repeatedly unfaithful to Jacques Villere, the father whose violent death Po spent 12 years in jail for violently avenging. But now that Clara Villere, seeing her end approaching, has asked him to return, he can’t say no even though her deathbed is likely to be closely attended by her second husband, Darius Chatard, and his surviving sons, Francis and Leon, who’ve sworn vengeance against Po for killing their brothers, Roman and Lucas. Clara wastes no time in telling Po why she wanted him to come: to let him know that he has a sister, Emilia Chatard, who, despite her last name, is Jacques Villere’s daughter. Though the news does nothing to close the rifts between Po and the Chatards, that’s almost beside the point, because much bigger trouble is around the corner. Emilia, still as ignorant that she has another sibling as Po was until very recently, and her boyfriend have gone deep into the backwoods to score some designer weed only to find the growers, Hal and Jamie Thibodaux, gruesomely slain. Cleary Menon, their monstrous killer, and his more normal-sized brother, Zeke, have recognized Emilia and threatened her and her loved ones so effectively that she’s gone into hiding, guided only by the mantra: “Stay hidden. Stay alive.” Wonder how that family reunion will work out now?

As much brutally choreographed action as Painted Skins (2016), much of it taking the form of rematches among gladiators who’ve already gone one round with each other. The family complications, though, make this sequel seem just a bit more deeply felt.