The Automatic Hate (2016) Spoiler-Free Summary – What It's About

In the bustling kitchen of a Boston restaurant, Davis Green balances the heat of his culinary craft with the simmering strain of a fraught romance. When a stranger arrives on his doorstep, introducing herself as his long‑lost cousin, the ordinary rhythm of his life shatters, leaving him to question the contours of his own history. The encounter feels both intrusive and inevitable, setting a tone of quiet unease that threads through the city’s crowded streets and intimate apartments.

Behind the polished veneer of family gatherings, the Green household harbors a lingering tension between inherited expectations and the desire to define oneself. Ronald, Davis’s father, occupies the role of a pragmatic, sometimes distant figure whose lectures on behavioral psychology hint at deeper, unspoken currents. The arrival of the enigmatic cousin draws Davis into a web of whispered anecdotes and half‑remembered photographs, suggesting that the family’s past is far more tangled than he ever imagined.

Compelled by curiosity, Davis follows a trail of cryptic clues to the rural landscapes of upstate New York, where the air carries a cool, forested hush that contrasts sharply with the city’s clamor. There, among the quiet towns and weather‑worn homes, he encounters a small circle of relatives whose guarded warmth hints at unresolved longing and concealed grievances. The setting feels both picturesque and oppressive, mirroring the internal conflict that swells as old loyalties clash with newfound attractions.

As Davis steps deeper into this tangled familial maze, he is forced to confront the fragile balance between love, duty, and identity. The film promises an atmospheric exploration of how hidden histories can reshape present relationships, all while maintaining a brooding, introspective tone that invites the audience to linger in the spaces between revelation and denial.