Bully

Ali Willis and Lisa Connelly befriend Bobby Kent and Marty Puccio and go on a double date. In the parked car that evening, Ali performs oral sex on Bobby while Lisa and Marty have sex in the back seat. The night marks the beginning of the toxic dynamic that will drive the later events.

Lisa learns she is pregnant and suspects that Bobby is the father. She eventually believes Marty might be the actual father, creating further tension within the group. The news complicates the dynamics as abuse escalates.

Bobby physically and emotionally abuses Marty as the group endures his controlling behavior. At one point he rapes Ali and forces her to watch gay pornography. The pattern of coercion and fear takes a heavy toll on everyone involved.

Bobby and Marty visit a gay bar where Marty is stripped down and forced to dance for money. Bobby enjoys watching his humiliation and the scene deepens the group's sense of fear and resentment toward him. The incident foreshadows the violence to come.

Lisa proposes that the group murder Bobby to escape his abuse and control. Ali agrees to a plan that would remove him from their lives, shifting the group toward violent action. The idea begins to harden into a concrete project.

Ali recruits her boyfriend Donny Semenec and Heather Swallers, while Lisa recruits her cousin Derek Dzvirko. They map out a murder plan and discuss how to carry it out. They also consider using a gun stolen from Lisa's mother.

The group hires Derek Kaufman, a friend of Ali, to act as the supposed hitman for the killing. This recruitment gives the plan a sense of legitimacy and danger. The group prepares for a more formalized attack on Bobby.

They drive to the Everglades and lure Bobby to the bank of a canal with the promise of sex. Lisa hesitates and shoots are never fired, causing the plan to collapse. The failure pushes the group to seek a more direct form of violence.

With Kaufman involved, the plan shifts to violence. Heather gives a signal for Donny to strike, stabbing Bobby in the neck as Marty and Donny stab him further. Kaufman bludgeons Bobby with a baseball bat and the dying man is carried toward the swamp to be disposed of.

The others flee back to Ali's car as the scene ends. Bobby's corpse is later found being devoured by crabs and the group realizes the evidence will be key to their fate. Lisa later decides to discard the diving knife sheath to erase the link to the crime.

Dzvirko and Lisa reveal their involvement to their friends, unsettling the group. Ali phones in an anonymous tip to the media, and Kaufman is already under arrest. The web of lies begins to unravel quickly.

All teenagers turn themselves in, with the exception of Marty who is arrested later. The case moves toward trial as law enforcement closes in. The uncertainty and fear continue to mount for everyone involved.

The defendants appear in court wearing prison jumpsuits and publicly deny their culpability. The mood is tense as friends and families confront the consequences of the murder. The courtroom drama anchors the real consequences of their actions.

Title cards reveal the real life convictions: Kaufman, Donny, and Lisa receive life sentences; Ali receives 40 years; Derek Dzvirko 11 years; Heather Swallers seven years; and Marty Puccio faces the death penalty, later vacated in 1997. The film closes by laying out the long shadows of their actions.

The final framing shows the lasting consequences for the teenagers and the victims, with the convictions hanging over the community. The film ends with reflection on the effects of desperation, loyalty, and violence.