Enid Is Sleeping

In early 1959, a household in Las Moscas, New Mexico, is overwhelmed by chores and tension. Enid's anger erupts as she violently acts toward her baby sister June by attempting to place her in the oven while their mother is momentarily away. The scene foreshadows the dark family dynamics that will haunt them years later.

Twenty-five years later, Enid returns home to an unloving marriage with Harry and confronts the uneasy dynamic between them. She discovers Harry's affair with June, reigniting old resentments and setting the stage for a violent reckoning. The reunion exposes shared secrets that will drive the plot forward.

During a tense confrontation, Enid aims to shoot Harry and June with a police gun, but June retaliates by smashing a vase over Enid's head, leaving her apparently dead. The trio immediately considers a cover story to stage Enid's disappearance as an accident. Tension spirals as the plan takes shape.

June and Harry decide to stage Enid's death as a car accident while they visit their mother. They hope to dispose of the body and hide the truth behind an accidental scenario, sacrificing truth for a fragile illusion of safety. The scheme sends them scrambling to keep the lie alive.

As they advance the plan, Floyd, Harry's partner, becomes entangled in their path without realizing the truth. June grapples with lingering guilt and begins a prolonged monologue with Enid to ease her conscience, delaying critical decisions. The moral burden threatens to break their already fragile plan.

While transporting Enid's body toward the intended staging point, June discovers that a real accident has already occurred at the same desert curve. The overlap between their ruse and a genuine tragedy complicates their attempt at an authentic cover-up. The discovery intensifies the danger surrounding them.

A drunken trucker drives up, flirting with June and Enid, forcing June to fend him off. The encounter attracts unwanted attention and pulls Harry and Floyd deeper into the pursuit. The added scrutiny raises the risk of exposure for their scheme.

June attempts to push the car off a cliff to hide Enid's body but fails and becomes stuck near an Indian burial ground. The setback heightens the stakes as time runs out and the crime edges closer to being uncovered. The moment catalyzes a series of increasingly risky choices.

After calling for help, Harry abandons Floyd at a rest stop. Floyd then becomes involved in an armed robbery and shoots one of the robbers, drawing more attention to the supposed victim. The violence complicates the original alibi and escalates the danger for everyone involved.

The group retrieves the body but is subsequently forced to a road motel where a drunk trucker revisits them. The motel manager ejects them, underscoring how the cover story is unraveling. The trio faces mounting pressure as their situation spirals out of control.

Forced to stop by a fallen tree, June pushes Enid's body into the Sanchez River, but a young couple witnesses the act and reports it to the police. The attempt to dispose of the body becomes a public matter, increasing the risk of exposure for the conspirators.

Harry helps June retrieve the car from the river after dumping Floyd, highlighting the deepening entanglement among the adults. The actions cement their uneasy alliance, yet the consequences continue to pile up. The lie grows heavier as the authorities grow closer.

On the way home, June falls asleep at the wheel and crashes into a billboard. A state trooper opens the trunk and is knocked out by Enid, who remains alive. The moment reveals the fragility of the lie and the constant threat of exposure creeping closer.

June deposits Enid at her home, but is kidnapped by a fugitive robber. The car explodes, killing the robber and burning the body, leaving Enid alive. When Harry returns home, he finds a slightly scorched June and the still-living, furious Enid waiting for him, ending on a shocking, unsettled note.