The Devil’s in the Details (2013) Spoiler-Free Summary – What It's About

In the sun‑baked border town of Nogales, Arizona, everyday life hums with the quiet tension of a place caught between two worlds. Thomas Conrad is a supermarket manager who once served overseas, now trying to stitch together a shattered sense of normalcy. His return to civilian life is shadowed by the lingering echoes of combat, and the strain on his marriage to Selina and his relationship with their daughter Chloe hangs heavy in every room. The town’s half‑desert backdrop mirrors his internal landscape—vast, unforgiving, and full of hidden fissures waiting to be exposed.

Seeking a lifeline, Thomas turns to Dr. Robert Michaels, a former Navy SEAL turned psychiatrist, whose unconventional methods push him to confront the moments that carved his trauma. Their sessions become a fragile tether, offering a glimpse of control amid the chaos that constantly threatens to pull him under. As he navigates the fragile peace of his family and his own fractured mind, an unexpected ripple in the community drags him toward a darker undercurrent.

A chance encounter on a rainy night pulls Thomas into a precarious game that blurs the line between victim and participant. The shadow of a Mexican cartel looms over the town, its presence felt more in whispered warnings than overt displays of power. With his loved ones unwittingly tangled in the same web, Thomas must reconcile his lingering sense of duty with the desperate need to protect what remains of his world. The stakes rise with each passing minute, and the quiet desert heat becomes a metaphor for the pressure building inside him, promising that the next few moments could irrevocably reshape his life.