| Director | Jack Garfein, Jonathan Demme |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, film based on literature, film noir |
| Runtime | 112 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $1 million |
Mary Ann Robinson, a teenage student in New York City, is brutally raped while walking in a park near her home in the Bronx. Traumatized by the experience, she washes away all of the evidence and destroys her clothing. She hides the rape from her mother and stepfather, with whom she has a distant relationship. Mary Ann unsuccessfully tries to continue living her normal life. She takes the subway to school and faints during the crush of people. The police escort her home, which upsets her prim and unsympathetic mother.
The rape continues to haunt Mary Ann. She leaves school abruptly and walks downtown through Harlem and Times Square to the Lower East Side. She rents a room there from a sinister-looking landlord of a seedy building. She takes a job at a five and ten store, where her coworkers dislike her because she is distant and unfriendly. Overwhelmed at her job after her coworkers play a prank on her, Mary Ann walks across the Manhattan Bridge and almost jumps to her death into the East River, but she is stopped by Mike, a mechanic. At first, he seems to have her best interests in mind, offering her shelter and food. She decides to stay with him, but when he comes home drunk and tries to attack her, Mary Ann kicks him in the eye. The following morning, he has no recollection of the incident, but his eye is badly hurt and is eventually surgically removed.
Mike forces Mary Ann to stay at his apartment, saying "I like the way you look here." She wants to leave, but he refuses to let her go, keeping the door locked. He holds her captive in the apartment, but she refuses to have anything to do with him.
One night, Mike proposes marriage to Mary Ann and she rejects him. He again attempts to be physical with her. Mary Ann reveals that it was she who blinded him in the eye. When Mary Ann discovers the door unlocked, she leaves, walking through the city and sleeping in Central Park. She later returns to Mike's apartment, and when he asks why she has returned, she says "I came for you." She writes her mother, who comes to the apartment and is shocked to see where and with whom Mary Ann lives. She has married Mike and announces that she is pregnant. Her mother insists that she come home, and Mary Ann replies that she now considers the apartment her home.