Descent

Maya attends a fraternity party during the winter of her senior year and meets Jared, who woos her with smooth talk and a surface charm. She gradually agrees to dinner and they go to his apartment, where the evening seems promising until she asks him to stop and he reveals his true, abusive nature. The encounter ends with Jared's words turning cruel and the assault leaving Maya shocked and violated.

Over the following year, Maya's personality shifts dramatically. She becomes quiet and withdrawn, completes college, and takes a job at a clothing store. She distances herself from friends and slides into depression and addiction, hiding a second life she keeps in the nightlife.

By night, she inhabits a glamorous nightclub persona, dancing and using cocaine to cope with the trauma. This double life gives her a sense of control and escape she can't find in daylight. The club environment becomes a refuge and a place to reinvent herself.

At a club she meets DJ Adrian, confides in him about the assault, and seeks guidance as she tries to navigate her trauma. He becomes a sympathetic listener who offers a different kind of support. Their interaction deepens as she leans on someone outside her day-to-day world.

Maya takes a job as a Teacher's Aide in a class that Jared attends, bringing her back into his everyday environment. The proximity allows her to orchestrate a confrontation on her terms. Her past trauma lingers as she plans her next move.

During a class or exam, Maya catches Jared cheating and, instead of reporting him publicly, uses the moment to lure him to her apartment. The setup marks the shift from observation to direct action. It becomes the catalyst for her calculated revenge.

In a planned confrontation at her apartment, Maya handcuffs Jared to the bed and blinds his eyes. A tense exchange unfolds as she speaks about the assault, and her emotions take over when he tries to console her. The moment shifts from confrontation to a darker turn as she gags him.

The mood intensifies as Maya's distress gives way to a brutal assertion of control. She enacts revenge by forcing a non-consensual act on Jared, pushing past his protests. The act is depicted in a non-graphic way that underscores the power shift between them.

Adrian enters the scene and participates in a non-consensual assault on Jared, taunting him and echoing the slurs Jared had used. The dynamic becomes a shared act of retribution, complicating Maya's emotions and the power she wields.

As the assault unfolds, Jared's body responds unexpectedly to the situation, and the act moves toward its conclusion with all three characters present. The sequence shifts from aggression to a tense paused moment as the participants settle into what has happened. The emotional stakes are high for Maya, Adrian, and Jared alike.

Adrian asks Maya if everything is alright, and she reacts with quiet tears of joy, a complex mix of relief and pain. The moment marks a morally ambiguous resolution to a night of violence. Their relationship dynamics are left unsettled as the scene lingers.

The screen fades to black as Maya's emotions settle into a ambiguous, unresolved state. The violence has occurred, but the film closes on her expression of sorrow and relief, leaving the audience with moral questions about justice and vengeance. The final image is of Maya, silent and contemplative.