Mike’s Murder

In West Los Angeles, Betty Parrish spends a night with Mike Chuhutsky after a casual encounter. He leaves with promises of a follow-up that never materializes, creating a tense undertone for their later interactions. The moment hints at a deeper connection and the fragility of their bond.

Mike can't earn enough as a tennis instructor to live in Brentwood, so he begins dealing drugs on the side. He sinks deeper into debt, hinting at a dangerous cycle he cannot escape. The move establishes the criminal thread that will haunt him.

Nearly a year after their night, Mike flags Betty down on Sunset Boulevard and asks for a ride. He explains that he is being chased for encroaching on another dealer's territory and that his life is in peril. Betty agrees to help, even as the danger feels close at hand.

Betty drops Mike at the top of a long drive into an expensive Doheny Drive mansion, and their brief exchange rekindles a fragile friendship. Their growing telephone relationship becomes frequent, with Mike often calling and then canceling plans. He hints at danger and the possibility of a better future, which Betty clings to.

Over the following year, their friendship survives as a sporadic phone relationship. Mike's calls come at odd hours and plans rarely materialize, leaving Betty hopeful but frustrated. The pattern underscores Mike's unreliability and Betty's stubborn optimism.

Mike swears that once he weathered the current trouble, he will quit dealing for good. He remains in debt and cannot clearly explain why he owes money, underscoring his entanglement with the drug world. The promise rings hollow as the danger never fully passes.

One night, Pete, Mike's former drug partner, offers a $3,000 opportunity to do a routine job with him. Mike agrees to partner, drawn by the easy money. Betty remains unaware of how quickly his life spirals deeper into crime.

The mule job sends Mike and Pete from a Union Station locker to the home of two major drug dealers. The hosts weigh the cocaine as they begin the tally, but an alarm interrupts them. Pete quietly pockets a portion and they flee before anyone can react.

Two goons seize Mike and Pete tears away, leaving Mike to be hunted by others. They move through the city as the pursuit intensifies, and Mike’s fear grows with every passing moment. The day ends with Mike in terrible danger and Pete slipping away.

A friend calls Betty to tell her that Mike is dead. The grim news shatters her, forcing her to confront what Mike’s life had become. She struggles to reconcile the man she knew with the brutal reality.

Betty visits the mansion on Doheny to discover the origins of Mike’s relationship with Philip Green, a wealthy rock producer. She learns that Mike initially rode cross-country with Phillip and then moved into his circle in LA. The revelations explain how Mike drifted between privilege and danger.

Betty learns of years of Mike’s parasitic life with an older photographer and other hangers-on, painting a fuller picture of his debt and unstable loyalties. The stories deepen her sense of tragedy and the complexity of his choices. The revelations deepen Betty’s sense of tragedy and the complexity of his choices.

Betty goes to Mike’s apartment and encounters a scene of utter horror: blood-spattered walls and police dusting for fingerprints. Pete’s enforcers threaten her during a tense confrontation, and she barricades herself in a room. The confrontation culminates with the ominous sense that Mike’s world has collapsed.

Pete’s body is dumped by two thugs into a rubble site, marking another brutal consequence of the drugs trade. After two weeks staying with her friend Patty, Betty returns home and resists attempts to push her toward a new life. She resolves to move forward and try to put the ordeal behind her.

In her own life, Betty struggles to reconcile the past with a fragile sense of safety. She remains wary but determined to reclaim some semblance of normalcy. The film ends on a quiet, unresolved note of hope and fear.