Black Noon

In the opening scene, an orange tabby cat runs to a beautiful woman in white as a church burns before them. The image feels like a cryptic omen, setting a supernatural tone for the town. The pair watches the disaster, hinting at powers at work beyond ordinary events.

Keyes and his wife Lorna are stranded in the desert beside a dying wagon. Caleb, Joseph, and Deliverance arrive and carry them to the town of San Lemas. The trio's arrival marks the beginning of Keyes' new life among wary locals who see him as a heavenly gift.

The town, beset by misfortunes, treats Keyes as a providential figure. Caleb introduces Keyes to his mute daughter Deliverance and to his friend Joseph. The atmosphere suggests the town will rely on him, for better or worse.

A man dressed in black named Noon arrives and takes the last of the local goldmine's share. He lassos Joseph and threatens violence, but Keyes intervenes and stops him from killing Joseph. Although there is no gold left, Noon warns he will return.

The town asks the Reverend to preach on Sunday in an outdoor spot since their church burned down. During the sermon, Ethan, a boy who had been unable to walk, is healed. Keyes' pride begins to show as the miracle unfolds, even if he tries to stay modest.

Keyes dreams he is chased by a shirtless, bloodied man with a desperate expression. The nightmare foreshadows the moral and spiritual peril surrounding him. It deepens the sense that his presence in San Lemas is part of a larger trial.

The town wants Keyes to stay and begins building a church, offering him a new house and more money than he could earn elsewhere. The sense of obligation and admiration from the townspeople grows stronger. Keyes wrestles with the pull of stability against his own path.

Lorna's condition worsens as she struggles with the desert ordeal. Deliverance starts making a candle in Lorna's image, signaling the first hints of witchcraft taking root in the town’s faith. A sinister atmosphere settles over the household and the community.

Noon returns to seize Deliverance, throwing a gun to the ground and daring anyone to stop him. Keyes retrieves the weapon and shoots Noon in the back, and Deliverance speaks her first words, 'Thank you.' The act deepens the town’s dangerous bond with the cultish forces at work.

Lorna hears chanting outside her window and sees robed figures with animal masks; they vanish when approached. An owl corpse is found in a tree stump, heightening the sense of occult rites. Lorna's fear and the town's superstition intensify.

Caleb urges Keyes to remain as Lorna collapses and their plan to leave is thwarted. That evening, the bed becomes crowded with the previously dead Noon and others who grin as Keyes wonders who these people are. Deliverance proclaims herself Lilith, and the town clarifies that Keyes wasn't lost—the road signs have been altered.

With the eclipse approaching, the town intensifies its ceremony, insisting on corrupting the Reverend rather than saving him. Joseph reveals a picture of the last reverend they corrupted, the man from Keyes' dreams who had tried to warn him. The ritual builds toward a climactic turning point.

Keyes is seen hanging upside-down inside the new church as townsfolk rush out and set the place alight. They chant outside, celebrating as the building burns, signaling the triumph of the town's eerie ritual. The Reverend's fate seems sealed by the very faith he sought to heal.

In the final scene, a family stranded on the road is helped by Caleb, Joseph, and Deliverance. They drive away with a station wagon, and in the rear-view mirror we see Las Lemas spelled backwards as Salem. The twist suggests the town’s true nature remains hidden in plain sight.