Mojave

Tom, a successful Hollywood director, tries to shake off an all-night party haze by escaping to the desert. He drives away in his jeep with the sun rising behind him, hoping the open landscape will reset his mind. Before long, he runs into a dangerous stranger, a homicidal drifter named Jack.

Jack sneaks into Tom's desert camp during the night. Tom quickly disarms him, taking back the rifle and ammunition, and forces him to leave the camp. The tense exchange ends with Jack slinking off into the darkness, defeated for now.

With his jeep overturned, Tom cannot return to Los Angeles and spends the night in a desert cave. Early the next day, a figure appears at the cave entrance; Tom shoots at it in fear and kills who he thinks is an intruder. Only later does he realize the victim is a patrolling police officer, and he considers how to cover his tracks by leaving Jack's rifle behind to point suspicion at Jack.

The next day Jack stumbles upon Tom's abandoned jeep in the desert. Inside the jeep he finds a filled-out car registration form bearing Tom's name and address. He decides to return to Los Angeles and use the information to blackmail Tom for a few hundred thousand dollars.

Jack begins hitchhiking back toward Los Angeles, carrying knowledge of Tom's misdeeds. He envisions a payday once he reaches the city and confronts Tom with the jeep's registration.

Tom eventually returns to Los Angeles, unaware that Jack has discovered his identity and intends to blackmail him. He believes he can resume his life without the desert incident catching up to him.

Jack finally confronts Tom with his discovery, hoping to leverage the information for money. Tom remains calm and points out the fragility of Jack's plan, hinting that evidence in the desert could convict him.

Meanwhile, police uncover the dead officer in the desert and begin assembling evidence. The investigation tightens around the two men as each tries to control the narrative.

To complicate matters, Jack kills movie executive Norman to frame Tom as the murderer. The plan is meant to secure Tom's downfall while Jack rises to take his place.

The two agree to meet again in the desert, and Jack proposes a deadly game of Russian roulette to settle their fates. Tom accepts, stepping into the lethal gamble with everything on the line.

In the tense standoff, Tom grabs the gun and shoots Jack, who had filled all chambers. He then sets Jack's trailer on fire and leaves the scene, choosing escape over a final accusation.

The following day Tom returns home and shares a kiss with his daughter who had been away. The moment offers a fragile sense of reconciliation after a violent ordeal and a web of lies.