Linoleum

Cameron Edwin, a mid-career astronomer and local-TV host, drifts through a routine, unfulfilling life. He juggles a fractured home with Erin and their children, Nora and Sam, while secretly yearning for something bigger. The film establishes a calm, ordinary world that hints at a longing just beneath the surface.

While cycling home from work, Cameron sees a red sports car drop from the sky and crash nearby. Inside the car lies an unconscious man who bears a striking resemblance to Cameron himself. The uncanny event seeds doubt about reality and awakens a dangerous obsession with the crash's mysterious parallels.

The next morning, Cameron finds a newspaper article about Kent Armstrong, the man from the crash who mirrors his own image. The discovery unsettles him and fuels a growing fixation with identity and possibility. He becomes consumed by questions of who he is and what the accident might mean.

At work, Cameron disrupts a meeting between the producer and Kent Armstrong. The producer reveals PBS wants Kent as the host, effectively sidelining Cameron to a mere creative consultant. Facing a power shift since PBS owns the majority, Cameron reluctantly walks away from the project.

After the crash, investigators treat Cameron's home as a crime scene, and news of a Russian spacecraft reportedly falling into the backyard adds to the fear. The family relocates to Erin's sister's house while authorities investigate. The upheaval deepens the emotional strain on Cameron and Erin.

In Nora's high school, new student Marc shares Nora's birthday, sparking a budding connection. Marc is soon picked up by Kent Armstrong, whose presence becomes a protective, unsettling influence. Cameron and Marc sneak around the wreckage, fantasizing that the craft might be American in origin.

Cameron visits his father Mac, a former NASA engineer living in a care facility with dementia but retaining sharp technical recall. He brings Mac back to the family home, where an astronaut costume with a cracked visor rekindles memories of a brighter past. The encounter blurs the line between memory and present.

A silent elderly woman watches Cameron and Marc as they tinker in the garage, hinting she knows more than she says. A memory-heavy sequence folds past and present into a single moment, questioning what is real. The film uses these overlaps to deepen the mystery of identity and the past.

Marc invites Darcy to a party, which fuels Nora's jealousy and leads them to host their own Halloween event at school. Darcy publicly humiliates Marc in class, prompting Nora to retaliate with a punch and drawing parental intervention on the ride home. Kent confronts Marc and forbids any relationship with Erin, even threatening violence.

The next day, Cameron finds Erin in the garage and they reconcile, deciding to press forward with their DIY rocket project. The renewed collaboration centers Cameron on a dream that blends memory with a possible future. The tension with Kent remains in the background as the launch approaches.

On Halloween night, Marc slips away to join Nora at their party, while Mac awakens in astronaut gear beside the silent woman. She reveals a decades-old photo of Nora and Marc, and the film slides into a memory-weaving sequence that makes Cameron's sense of self feel unstable. Erin's presence anchors the scene as memories overtake the present.

A medical emergency jolts the unfolding memory as Cameron clings to a belief that 'the launch' is about to begin. Erin insists there was no launch and no rocket, accepting a painful truth as Cameron is carried into an ambulance. In parallel, Cameron and Erin ignite the large 2-D cardboard rocket and the scene flickers between ambulance, launch, and a lively Halloween party.

In the final arc, Cameron confronts Kent as an adult, echoing Marc’s earlier disillusionment with his father. Kent swerves the car, cracking Marc’s helmet but sparing him from fatal harm, while Cameron and Erin ignite the rocket and flee in the ambulance. The crash, the launch, and the memory-world collide, leaving the ending open to interpretation.