End of the Road

Jacob Horner graduates from Johns Hopkins University and walks straight from the ceremony to a nearby railway platform. The moment is intercut with images of the 1960s' upheavals, hinting at the turbulent world he will soon inhabit. The scene marks a turning point from academic achievement to a murky, unsettled future.

At the train platform, Jacob slips into a catatonic state and becomes unresponsive to everyone around him. Strangers try to reach him as the era's upheaval flickers around him. His silence signals a fracture between his education and the world he is about to enter.

Doctor D finds Jacob and manages to wake him from his stupor. He decides to take Jacob off the platform and transport him to The Farm, a controversial clinic he runs. This encounter launches Jacob into a troubling system of care.

Jacob arrives at The Farm and is introduced to an unorthodox therapeutic regime. The clinic encourages patients to act out fantasies as a form of therapy, and a cast of eccentric residents is presented, signaling the moral ambiguity of Doctor D's methods. The clinic's atmosphere is unsettling and coercive.

Treatment at The Farm includes physical punishment and audiovisual experiments that push Jacob to confront his psyche. The sessions are brutal and disorienting, challenging conventional notions of therapy and care. The experience underscores the clinic's ethical murkiness.

Before discharge, Doctor D instructs Jacob to re-enter society with a purpose. He advises that with his English literature background, Jacob should teach prescriptive English grammar at a local college. He also warns him to avoid personal or political entanglements as part of his recovery.

Jacob secures lodging at an abandoned factory, beginning a fragile, makeshift existence. The bleak space mirrors his disconnection from academia and stable life. He creates a minimal routine within the harsh surroundings.

Jacob has a brief, companionship-seeking fling with Peggy Rankin, a lonely older woman. The encounter offers him a temporary escape from his unsettled life. It also highlights the loneliness that threads through the story.

On his first day teaching prescriptive English at the local college, Jacob befriends fellow teacher Joe Morgan. Joe initially appears supportive but soon reveals a darker side, showing abusive behavior toward his wife Rennie. The day sets in motion a partnership that will threaten Jacob's ethics and safety.

Joe invites Jacob to dinner with his wife Rennie, where he subtly goads Jacob into an affair with Rennie. He also pressures Rennie to join him on a horseback ride, further entwining the lovers. The dinner marks the start of a dangerous, escalating liaison.

Jacob and Rennie return to the Morgan home and spy on Joe, who is masturbating to Shakespeare's works and appears to conceal a gun in his pants. Rennie is deeply upset by the revelation and the affair deepens their sense of peril. The moment underscores the moral and physical danger surrounding them.

Rennie reveals she is pregnant and confesses the affair to Jacob, with her husband present. She states she does not want to leave Joe or terminate the pregnancy, threatening suicide if forced to carry to term. Joe insists that an abortion be arranged, setting a crisis in motion.

Jacob tries to contact an abortionist but cannot secure an appointment in time. With no options left, he takes Rennie to The Farm under the pretense of seeking help. The coercive pressure of the facility becomes a central obstacle to Rennie's autonomy.

At The Farm, Doctor D performs an unsafe abortion, inserting a curette and causing Rennie to convulse in pain. She chokes to death as the anesthesia mask fails to keep her sedated. Jacob and Doctor D stand stunned as the tragedy unfolds.

After Rennie's death, Jacob wraps her body and, with Doctor D, dumps it into a lake. The act closes the immediate tragedy but leaves Jacob with lasting guilt. The film's final imagery juxtaposes Apollo 11's moon landing with Nixon's welcome home.