Payback is a 1999 American crime thriller directed by Brian Helgeland and starring Mel Gibson. The film shares the same source material as the 1967 noir-classic Point Blank, directed by John Boorman and starring Lee Marvin; both are based on the book The Hunter, written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym of Richard Stark.
The film was Helgeland's directorial debut after a career as a screenwriter. Helgeland in 2006 issued a director's cut that differs substantially from the version released by the studio.