Cold in July

Ann Dane, startled by the sound of a door window breaking, wakes her husband, Richard. He accidentally shoots the intruder, Freddy Russell, a wanted felon. Richard is shaken by the experience, and the incident sets off a chain of events that pulls the family into a dangerous web of fear and suspicion.

On Freddy’s burial day, Richard confronts Freddy’s father, Ben—a paroled convict—who corners him in the car with a veiled threat that touches on Richard’s son, Jordan. Alarmed, Richard picks up Jordan from school and arranges for Ann to meet them at the police station. Ben follows them to the school, but the police decline to offer help. When the Danes return home to find their front door broken in, they are placed under police protection, and armed guards circle the house, with one stationed inside.

The danger intensifies as Ben never really left. He has been hiding in the house’s crawlspace and eventually emerges, knocking out the guard and moving toward Jordan’s room, where he locks the door. Richard is alerted by the sound of dripping water from the crawlspace hatch and reluctantly breaks down Jordan’s door. Ben has already escaped through a window and heads toward a nearby river, only to be tracked to Mexico, where he is apprehended. Back at the station, the police invite Richard to close the case, but a troubling image emerges: a wanted poster for “Frederick Russell” who looks different from the man Richard shot. Richard tries to raise the discrepancy with Officer Ray Price, but the explanation is dismissed as a trick of memory caused by shock.

Representing a new turn, Richard follows Ben as he’s taken away in an unmarked police car. He witnesses Ben being forcibly removed from the car, injected with an unknown substance, splashed with alcohol, and dumped on train tracks to die. Richard intervenes, saving Ben from an oncoming train. At first, Ben struggles to believe that the man he shot wasn’t Freddy. The two eventually exhume Freddy’s grave, and Ben confirms that the body in the coffin is not his son, noting that the fingertips have been removed to prevent identification.

Ray Price later visits Richard at work and explains that Freddy changed his appearance to avoid capture, explaining the seemingly inconsistent poster. A private investigator named Jim Bob Luke—who is known to Ben—introduces another layer of doubt by suggesting that the name Fred Russell is tied to multiple news reports about a burglar’s killing. Jim theorizes that after Freddy became entangled with the Dixie Mafia, federal investigators faked his death and placed him in Witness Protection in exchange for information.

Jim, Richard, and Ben uncover a possible lead: Freddy might be living in Houston under the alias “Frank Miller.” Their pursuit leads them to a house filled with disturbing home videos, including snuff films that show Freddy Russell beating a woman to death with a baseball bat. Richard wants to take the tape to the police, but Jim argues that authorities may already know about the videos—and may not act, because Freddy is currently valuable as an informant against the Dixie Mafia, while the victims are illegal immigrants who would be missed by few. The tension between protecting the public and seeking justice drives Ben to a frightening resolve: he becomes determined to kill his son, Freddy, at any cost.

The investigation heats up as they track Freddy to a secluded mansion where he and his associates produce another snuff film. They infiltrate the mansion and begin to eliminate those inside. Freddy, the last survivor, becomes the target of a violent confrontation that leaves Jim shot and Richard wounded. Ben manages to shoot Freddy in the head, achieving his own brutal form of closure, but dies soon after from his wounds. With Jim gravely injured, Richard and Ben escape the burning mansion, taking a hostage with them as they flee. The following morning, Richard returns home to his family, forever touched by the terror, loss, and fragile hope for safety.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 20:07