The Rain People

Natalie leaves her husband while he sleeps and drives away in the family station wagon. She begins a road trip that takes her off Long Island and into the unknown. The departure sets the tone for a tense, unsettled journey.

She visits her upset parents, seeking grounding or support. They react with worry and anger, unsure what their daughter's future holds. Natalie explains she needs time away, but the distance between them widens.

At a gas station, Natalie makes a collect call to her husband and reveals she is pregnant. He reacts with happiness and relief, while she insists she is not ready to return yet. The confession highlights the clash between a desire for family and a need for independence.

On the first night, in a motel room, she orders Killer around and makes him show his muscular body. She explains she is pregnant and uses this one-night ride to buy time, then shuttles him to his own room. The dynamic establishes Natalie’s control over the relationship and the fragility of their arrangement.

She drives Killer to the home of his former girlfriend, whose father had promised him a job. The family wants nothing to do with him, so Natalie refuses to abandon him and ends up taking him with her when they drive away. They press westward in search of stability that never fully arrives.

While traveling west, she comes close to finding him work or a place to stay, but each opportunity dissolves. Natalie worries that Killer would be taken advantage of, so they keep moving instead. The sense of precariousness shadows every mile.

She twice leaves him at the side of the road, only to change her mind and pick him up again. The repeated abandonments reveal her deep conflict between escape and responsibility. They resume traveling with no clear plan in sight.

Days later, during a collect call from a pay phone, her husband pleads with her to return home. She remains distant, focusing on the road ahead. In the same moment, Killer angers her by destroying the phone cord, a petty act that intensifies the tension but does not derail their trip.

Gordon, a motorcycle highway patrolman, stops Natalie for speeding and issues a ticket. He invites her back to his trailer, presenting himself as someone with a ready-made home, though his life is chaotic. He mistreats his young daughter and reveals a painful secret about his late wife.

In Gordon's trailer, Natalie and Gordon have sex, and he reveals the death of his wife. The encounter underlines how Natalie uses him to escape her own loneliness, while the power balance remains unstable. The scene foreshadows the peril that will follow.

A confrontation unfolds as Gordon’s daughter and Killer wander the trailer park while Natalie tries to leave. Gordon tries to trap her, insisting she stay and planning to rape her. Killer tries to intervene and is beaten, highlighting the mounting danger around Natalie.

Gordon's daughter shoots Killer dead, and Natalie collapses beside his body, sobbing as park residents gather to witness the aftermath. The tragedy marks a brutal end to the uneasy road trip. The community's arrival closes the scene in a somber tableau.