The Teacher

Summer arrives as Ralph Gordon begins stalking Diane Marshall. He watches her from an old warehouse while she relaxes on a boat. Diane's student Sean Roberts and Ralph's younger brother Lou witness her strip and exercise, and Ralph's anger erupts in a bayonet-yell that sends Lou to his death, a tragedy Ralph later blames on Sean.

That night, Ralph confronts Sean, threatening to cut out the boy's tongue should he reveal anything. The sheriff questions Sean, who lies because he saw Ralph eyeing him. The tension marks the first fracture of trust between the two families.

The next day, Sean meets with Diane, who invites him to tea. Diane reveals that she knows Ralph has been stalking her. On their way home, they spot Ralph watching them from a distance, escalating the danger.

Diane invites Sean into her house for a drink, and their moment of passion unfolds into lovemaking while Ralph watches with jealous intensity. The scene heightens the sense that Ralph's fixation has spiraled beyond control.

The next day Diane invites Sean to her boat. Ralph arrives and threatens Sean with a handheld harpoon, but flees when he sees Diane, signaling that his reach remains terrifyingly close. The threat intensifies without a confrontation.

Diane asks Sean to dinner, and Ralph again threatens him with a bayonet. Diane then tells Sean's parents about Ralph's threats, widening the circle of fear to his family. The tension shifts from private to public in this confrontation.

The next day Sean drives Diane home and they have a pool party together, then make love. Diane receives a phone call from her drifter husband saying he is coming back, but she asserts that she is divorcing him. The domestic stakes rise alongside their dangerous liaison.

As Sean gets into his van to drive home, Ralph holds him at bayonet and orders him to drive to the warehouse. Sean escapes and arms himself with a rifle, but Ralph reveals the gun is loaded with blanks and overpowers him in a chokehold. The confrontation quickly turns deadly.

Ralph's chokehold ends Sean's life, and the scene leaves Diane arriving to confront the grim reality of his death. The act cements Ralph's belief that he can take both Diane and Sean away from their worlds. The loss shatters everyone involved.

Diane arrives on the scene and Ralph tells her that he killed Sean so he can be with her, a painful confession that she receives with tears and disbelief. Her pleas fall on deaf ears as the situation becomes a tragedy of obsession.

Overcome by jealousy and danger, Ralph tries to strangle Diane. Diane manages to stab him with his own bayonet and flees, tears streaming as she escapes the carnage. The act reverses the predator-prey dynamic in a brutal, self-defensive moment.

Diane finds Sean's body, breaks down, and weeps as the full cost of the affair and obsession sinks in. The film closes on her grief and the irreversible consequences of Ralph's fixation.