Sleuth

Andrew Wyke hosts Milo Tindle at his countryside manor and lays out a scheme to settle Marguerite's needs. He proposes that Milo steal valuable jewellery and that Wyke will recoup the loss through an insurance claim. The idea is couched as a kind of dangerous game, signaling the start of a carefully constructed deception.

Milo, who owns two hair salons, agrees to participate to rescue his finances and win Marguerite's favour. Wyke leads him through the plan to fake a burglary, demonstrating how Milo would be framed and how the insurance claim would work. The two men sharpen their roles, treating the affair as another game to outsmart one another.

Wyke and Milo enact the burglary plan, with Milo entering the house and following the elaborate setup. They stage a convincing break-in as Wyke's handpicked narrative of a crime unfolds, and a blank-fired shot is used to suggest an attempted murder. The moment feels like a game reaching its climax as the first scheme appears to succeed.

During the exchange, Wyke belittles Milo's profession and immigrant background as a weapon in the psychological game. The tension escalates as the two men push toward the final act of the ruse, each trying to outwit the other. The air thick with danger as the plan nears its supposed conclusion.

In the closing moment of their first game, Wyke pulls a gun on Milo and reveals that the staged burglary was a ruse to frame Milo for murder. The claim is that Milo would be killed just as Wyke intended, and the screen cuts to black, leaving the outcome uncertain until the next sequence.

A few days pass and Inspector Doppler arrives to investigate Milo's disappearance. Wyke maintains his composure, insisting he knows nothing, while the inspector begins collecting clues and weighing inconsistencies. The manor becomes a stage for the mounting tension of an impending reckoning.

Under pressure from Doppler's inquiry, Andrew finally confesses that the supposed 'shooting' was a blunt hoax and not a real murder. The police gather enough evidence to charge him with staging a crime, and Wyke is arrested for the burglary deception. The confession marks a turning point, revealing how deeply the game has spiraled.

As Andrew awaits transport, Doppler removes his disguise to reveal himself as Milo in a final twist. He declares that they will play a real murder this time, turning the table and asserting that the score is not settled. The room becomes a battlefield as both men prepare for a second, more dangerous game.

Milo asserts that he fatally strangled Téa and planted incriminating evidence throughout the house to seal Andrew's fate. He hints the police will soon uncover the setup, and Téa's flatmate Joyce has been kept in the loop. Andrew's sense of control falters as the second game looms.

Joyce reveals Téa is dead, adding a layer of urgency to the investigation and complicating Milo's claims. Andrew frantically searches for the supposed planted evidence, trying to salvage his reputation. The atmosphere thickens with the sense that the truth is closer yet still out of reach.

Milo reveals that Téa's death was faked as payback for the humiliations Andrew has inflicted on Téa, and that Téa herself was complicit with Joyce. The plan resets again, forcing Andrew to confront another layer of deception and to rethink his own gamemanship. The police are tipped off and on their way.

The escalating confrontation culminates in Andrew fatally shooting Milo, who lies dying as the police close in. Milo tells Andrew to tell the officers that 'it was just a bloody game' and then triggers the automata control box. The manor erupts with the cacophony of activated toys as officers pound at the door.