Lamb

David visits his sick father, Walter Lamb, as his condition worsens. The moment establishes a painful filial bond and an impending sense of loss. The scene sets the emotional tone for the rest of the story.

Walter Lamb dies, leaving David to confront grief. The film then moves quickly to the aftermath and burial preparations.

David attends his father's burial, a quiet ritual that underscores the final separation from his father. The ceremony deepens David's sense of loss and loneliness. Afterwards, he ends up in a parking lot where a chance encounter with a young woman occurs.

David finds himself in a depressed corner of Chicago where Tommie and her friends linger. He offers Tommie a cigarette, and she introduces him to her circle. The moment marks the beginning of a strange, unsettling dynamic between them.

In a misguided attempt to prove a point, David pretends to kidnap Tommie, heightening the sense of danger around their dynamic. He then brings her to her home, blurring lines between control and care. The fake kidnapping foreshadows the complex power balance at the heart of their relationship.

Back at work, his boss Wilson offers condolences and urges him to take time off to grieve. The office atmosphere is tense with unspoken worries about David's well-being. This moment shows the strain of personal tragedy spilling into professional life.

Linny and David have a passionate encounter in the office stairwell, after which David reveals his plan to go away to the country to clear his head. The affair intensifies the moral ambiguity and foreshadows his complicated relationship with Tommie. This scene also complicates the web of lies surrounding his 'Gary' identity.

David encounters Tommie again in the parking lot, introduces himself as Gary, and offers to buy her lunch. He continues to manipulate the situation while remaining outwardly friendly. Tommie appears drawn to him, unaware of the deeper implications.

The next day, David asks Tommie to go on a camping trip for a week, promising to return before anyone worries. They share plans and a sense of escape from their ordinary lives. At a hotel during the trip, he presses her to decide whether she wants to stay or go back home, and Tommie chooses to stay.

At a truck stop, Tommie breaks down and lies about her name, calling herself Emily. David continues the deception, then asks to stay in contact while showing care. This small lie becomes part of the elaborate cover story he maintains.

The couple spends time by a lake near the cabin where a neighbor named Foster warns them about private property. His caution underscores the fragility of their arrangement. The moment also injects a sense of external threat into their secret relationship.

On returning from the mountains, Tommie hides in a cabin closet as Linny returns, and David tries to keep her concealed by spinning a ghost story about 'Emily'. Linny nearly discovers them, heightening the tension. David's lie begins to unravel under pressure.

One morning Linny nearly catches Tommie in the cabin. To cover his lie, David tells Linny that 'Emily' is the child of his deceased brother who died, and claims she has been sick. Linny challenges him for keeping secrets, exposing the fragile lie.

David and Tommie decide to head back home, stopping at a motel along the way. He breaks down in tears, fearing that Tommie will forget him as she grows older, while she reassures him that she won't. The emotional climax centers on the impossibility of their bond.

Back in their hometown, they say a painful farewell, with David promising to leave signs to show he's still around. He scatters a broken window motif and a ribbon, hoping Tommie will remember the wind and rain from their trip. The ending cuts to Tommie chasing after David as he drives away.