The Hillz

Steve is a promising athlete who lives in a small southern California town with Duff, Seb, and T. The four friends spend most of their time partying, getting high, and harassing Ahkmed, the convenience store clerk. Their privileged upbringing and reckless behavior set the toxic tone that drives the story.

Duff finds a gun in a girl’s house and is drawn into crime with T, the loud instigator with a Napoleon complex. The pair step into something darker than their party-driven life. This marks the start of their violent path.

Duff murders a kid who volunteers at the police department, a shocking escalation that signals how far he has sunk. The act cements their move from petty crime to deadly violence. The town’s sense of safety begins to unravel.

One year passes and Steve returns from college after a successful baseball season. He hopes to win back Heather Smith, who told him she would consider dating him if he makes it as a baseball player. The reunion sets the stage for Steve to confront Duff’s gang again.

Back in town, Steve runs into Duff’s gang and sees that Duff and T have fully embraced their hard-gang persona. They believe they are part of one of the toughest groups around. Steve’s return pulls him into their orbit once more.

Shortly after joining the crew, Steve witnesses Duff and T kill a man in broad daylight over eighty dollars. The violence exposes the group’s complete lack of moral restraint. Steve is pulled deeper into their world in a way he never expected.

Heather is being used and abused by her new boyfriend Todd, adding pressure to Steve’s longing for her. Steve convinces Seb, who had broken ties with Duff’s crew, to come out with them for a night. The plan only deepens the gang’s entanglements and sets up further tragedy.

During the night, T insults two Korean men by using a racial slur, and they respond with deadly force. They fire an Uzi into Duff’s car, killing Seb in the ensuing chaos. The incident exposes how hate and violence ripple through the group.

Duff and T are betrayed by a crooked undercover cop and the brother of the man killed earlier. They’re targeted by a larger operation that spirals out of control. T is killed, and a narcotics officer and his team arrive in force, only to be killed in the raid.

The ending shows Steve and Duff driving along a street when a couple of kids throw something at their car. They get out and chase the kids, but as they near them one of the kids turns, pulls a gun, and shoots both Duff and Steve, killing them. The town’s violent world finally claims its two protagonists.