Flashbacks of a Fool

In Los Angeles, Joe Scot, once a rising star, is trapped in self-destructive habits like drinking, drugs, and endless one night stands. His personal assistant Ophelia tolerates the chaos as his career stalls and he drags through day after day. The strain of his failing career sets the stage for the emotional shocks to come.

Joe receives a call that his childhood friend Boots has died unexpectedly. The news lands as he endures a disastrous meeting with a new director and his agent, deepening his sense of failure. The double blow pushes him toward a crisis point.

Shaken by Boots' death, Joe swims out to sea and contemplates ending his life. The moment marks a turning point that launches a long flashback to his youth. The flashback reveals the roots of his troubles and loyalties.

A 1970s flashback shows a young Joe living with his mother, aunt, and younger sister Jesse in a tight knit English coastal town. Boots remains supportive despite an epilepsy attack after a cinema incident. The scene plants the seeds of his later attachments and guilt.

In the flashback, Joe forms a relationship with Ruth, a popular girl his own age. She invites him back to her parents' house, and Joe is impressed by her affluence and record collection. They bond over If There Is Something by Roxy Music.

Ruth later asks him out on a date, and their relationship deepens as he is drawn to her lifestyle. The budding romance becomes a counterpoint to Joe's loyalty to Boots and the family he left behind.

Back in the present, Evelyn Adams, a sexually frustrated neighbor, kisses Joe and invites him into her house again. He cannot resist, and the affair begins, complicating his relationship with Ruth.

The next day, Evelyn continues her affair with a more reluctant Joe. Evelyn makes use of the house and has her daughter Jane play outside. Ruth sees love bites on Joe's neck when he arrives late to meet her and storms off, triggering a confrontation between Boots and Joe.

While Evelyn and Joe are together, Ruth's daughter Jane discovers a washed-up sea mine and climbs onto it, dying instantly. Joe blames himself for the tragedy and runs away, unable to cope with the consequences.

Joe returns to England and arrives late to Boots' funeral. His mother and aunt reveal that Boots had married Ruth and that he died of an aneurysm, leaving debt and a tangled past. The ceremony exposes the costs of past choices.

At the church graveyard, Joe sees Ruth and learns the fates of Jane and Evelyn. Evelyn had married and endured abuse before dying in a car accident, a revelation that reshapes Joe's understanding of the events and Ruth's grief.

Joe returns to the house he bought for his family and replays the music that bonded him to Ruth on that long-ago night. He sends Ruth a cheque to clear the debt and includes a letter with the lyrics to If There Is Something; Ruth initially refuses but then breaks down crying as she reads it.

Buoyed by Boots' death and Ruth's grief, Joe returns to Los Angeles where Ophelia awaits. He hopes to restart his career and start anew, carrying the lessons of the past into his future.