Dr. Sam Rice, Roy Scheider, is a Manhattan psychiatrist whose quiet professional world is disrupted by a stunning and secretive visitor: Brooke Reynolds, Meryl Streep. Brooke works at Crispin's, a prestigious New York auction house inspired by the real Christie’s, and she arrives with a troubling request. She has been having an affair with Sam’s patient, George Bynum, who has just been murdered, and she begs Sam to return a watch to Bynum’s wife while keeping their relationship hidden.
Sam is soon visited by NYPD Detective Joseph Vitucci, Joe Grifasi, who pressures him for information he is reluctant to share. The police warn that Sam might become a target, as the killer could suspect that Sam knows something crucial about the case. Despite the pressure, Sam starts to comb through the case files, discovering Bynum’s entanglements with several women connected to Crispin’s, including Brooke herself. Bynum had hinted that a wealthy friend once killed someone, and he claimed to be the only one who knew about this dangerous secret. The investigators suspect the killer is a woman, a theory that frames much of the tension that follows.
As the layers of manipulation unfold, Sam finds himself drawn to Brooke even as he fears he’s being watched. A mugging leaves Sam without his coat, and the attacker is killed in a manner that eerily mirrors Bynum’s death, elevating the sense that dangerous forces are converging on him.
To untangle the mystery, Sam leans on his psychiatrist mother, Grace Rice, Jessica Tandy. Together they interpret troubling clues, including a disturbing dream of Bynum’s: a green box tucked away in a cabinet within a dark house, a little girl holding a bleeding teddy bear, and a chilling ascent up a narrow staircase. The dream-like imagery seems to echo the real-world danger surrounding Bynum’s confidants and the secrets they protect.
Brooke’s behavior grows increasingly suspicious, prompting Sam to follow her to a family estate on Long Island. There, she reveals a painful truth: she feels guilty about her father’s death and claims that Bynum threatened to expose this long-held secret if she left him. As Sam pieces together the conspiracy, he learns that Bynum’s former girlfriend was Gail Phillips, an assistant at Crispin’s, who resents Brooke for her role in the breakup. Gail, determined to silence Brooke, murders Det. Vitucci and travels to the estate with a deadly resolve to eliminate Brooke and Sam.
The danger comes to a head when the couple prepares to escape, but Brooke forgets her keys and returns to the dark house to retrieve them, leaving Sam waiting in the car. Gail appears in the back seat and stabs Sam, setting off a chase through the mansion. The pursuit mirrors the patterns from Bynum’s dream, culminating in a climactic struggle on the staircase. Gail falls to her death over the railing, a grotesque echo of Brooke’s father’s own death, sealing the fates of the two women involved. In the final, relieved embrace, Sam and Brooke acknowledge their fragile connection, stepping into an uncertain future together.
