A Good Marriage

Darcy and Bob Anderson have spent 27 years building a calm, routinized life in Portland, Maine. They run a small mail-order business that trades in rare coins and share simple pleasures at home. The stability of their marriage is soon tested by undercurrents they barely acknowledge.

Darcy heads to the garage to fetch batteries and uncovers a pornographic magazine with sadomasochistic imagery that unsettles her. In the same sweep, she finds a hidden compartment containing ID cards belonging to Marjorie Duvall, a victim tied to the killer Beadie. The discovery marks a chilling turning point in their seemingly ordinary life.

The next morning, Darcy receives a distressing call from Bob and becomes even more unsettled. She digs into Beadie and cross-checks Bob’s business records against murder sites. The pattern becomes clear: Bob appears near most of the killings, linking him to the case in a way that unsettles her trust in him.

Darcy confronts Bob with what she learned, and he reveals a dark teenage past: he and a sadistic friend, Brian Delahanty (BD), plotted a school shooting that was thwarted when Delahanty was hit by a truck. He explains that his murderous alter ego subsided after starting a family, but he pleads with her to bury the matter for the sake of their children. Darcy agrees to a plan to hide the ID cards deeply in the woods.

Months pass and the couple decides to hide the ID cards deep in the woods, removing the thread that could reconnect Bob to the Beadie killings. They carefully carry out the plan to bury the evidence so the truth remains buried and the family remains safe. The act marks a new, dangerous stability in their life.

Months pass as the couple discovers a rare 1955 doubled die cent and goes out to celebrate. The find prompts them to toast their luck and mark a rare moment of triumph. As champagne loosens Bob's resolve, Darcy begins to craft a plan that will end his threat.

Darcy lures Bob upstairs under the pretense of intimacy and ambushes him, pushing him down the stairs. The fall cripples him, and she suffocates him with a plastic bag to ensure there are no loose ends. She then cleans up and conceals the evidence, convincing others that his death was a drunken accident.

With Bob gone, the house settles into a fragile quiet as Darcy convinces the police and their children that he died in an accident. She begins to believe the danger has passed and that she has protected her family. Yet the memory of what she did lingers under the surface.

Holt Ramsey, a retired detective who spent years chasing Beadie, arrives at the Anderson home. He had tracked Bob’s Suburban near many victims and now questions Darcy about what happened. His presence unsettles the fragile peace, reminding her that the case isn’t closed.

Darcy finally admits the truth about Bob’s role in the Beadie case to Ramsey, who reassures her that she did the right thing. He leaves, and before he goes, Darcy adds one more detail—Delahanty’s name and the ongoing threat he still posed. The admission shifts the balance from relief to cautious vigilance.

Even as the police attention fades, the house remains quiet but not peaceful. Darcy recognizes that safety is not simply absence of danger but a chosen clarity about the truth she faced. The family continues, wiser and wary, living with what happened.

The shadow of Delahanty and the Beadie case lingers in ordinary lives, tempering Darcy’s sense of security. She understands that past violence can return and that honesty is a constant shield. The film closes on a hard-won peace built from truth and vigilant care for the future.