Straight On till Morning

Brenda, a plain young woman living with her mother in Liverpool, tells her mother she is leaving home to move to London in order to find a father for her unborn baby. She pursues a fairy tale romance in hopes of a fresh start. This decision sets the entire plot in motion.

On arriving in London, Brenda is knocked off balance when an attractive young man named Peter bumps into her and ignores her. She ends up in a grubby bedsit, beginning her precarious new life. The encounter hints at the cold indifference she will face.

Brenda finds a job at a fashionable boutique run by Jimmy Lindsay and moves into a spare room in a flat owned by coworker Caroline. She hopes that Caroline’s many parties will help her meet a man. This arrangement places Brenda among London’s social scene, setting up her pursuit of romance.

Peter, who seems to live with an older alcoholic woman, invites Brenda upstairs. She enters his room and, unseen by him, begins to scream. The moment deepens the sense that something dangerous hides behind his charm.

Brenda discovers Caroline in bed with Joey, another coworker she liked, and runs crying into the street. She then encounters a scruffy dog whose owner is Peter, the man who bumped into her earlier. She takes the dog home, and Peter sees this, though Brenda remains unaware of his knowledge.

Back at the flat, Brenda cleans the dog and bows it up, then uses the collar address to take it back to Peter. He is kind at first but pressures her by asking why she took the dog. She finally admits it was because she wanted to meet him and have a baby, and he suggests she move in with him.

While Brenda is out shopping for her belongings, Peter kills his dog with a utility knife, allegedly because the dog is now pretty. Brenda lies to Caroline, telling her she is moving in with her ill mother. The lie buys Brenda time as Peter's plan tightens.

Brenda's mother grows worried and traces the last known number to Caroline’s flat, visiting Caroline, then turning to the police. Caroline finds Brenda’s dog’s broken lead with Peter's address on it, confirming a link between Brenda and Peter. This discovery raises the alarm and sets the pursuit in motion.

After Brenda has gone out shopping, Caroline visits Peter’s house and they go to bed together. Peter murders Caroline with a utility knife, again because she is too beautiful. The crime marks a chilling escalation in his danger.

When Brenda returns, Peter is alone and she has had a total makeover to look beautiful for him. He tells a fairy story, interspersed with flashbacks implying that he has killed multiple women. The scene reveals a disturbing pattern behind his charm.

A few days later, missing-person reports surface about Brenda and Caroline, and Peter forbids Brenda to go out. The mounting pressure tightens the net around Brenda as she remains inside the house. The outside world closes in while Peter maintains the illusion of safety.

Brenda shows signs that she might be pregnant, intensifying Peter's control. He takes her to his bedroom and plays a tape of him killing the dog and Caroline, turning her fear into hysteria. Brenda tries to flee, but the doors are locked as Peter closes in.

Peter sits alone in his house; there is no sign of Brenda. The film’s final moment shows Brenda’s fate uncertain, underscoring the horror of his actions. The story ends with Brenda’s whereabouts unresolved.