| Director | Stuart Gordon |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, horror film |
| Runtime | 85 min |
| Country | United Kingdom, United States |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $146,154 |
In Providence, Rhode Island, Thomas "Tom" Bardo (Stephen Rea) is having a particularly bad day; not only has his unemployment run out, but he has also been evicted from his apartment. Retirement-home caregiver Brandi Boski (Mena Suvari), who is potentially up for a promotion at work, celebrates with a night of drinking and MDMA before driving home. On the way, Brandi hits Tom with her car and he becomes trapped in her windshield. Afraid of being arrested, Brandi continues to drive home with the promise that she will get Tom help. However, believing that reporting the accident will destroy her life, she opts to take a taxi to work the next day, leaving him to die slowly in her garage. When Tom realizes this, he painfully tries to escape.
Tom does everything he can to get out of the situation. He beeps the horn and pulls himself from a shard of glass. Eventually, he is able to get a young neighbor boy's attention, but the boy's family, who are illegal immigrants, don't want to get involved. Later, a dog being walked by his owner comes across Tom, but the owner mistakenly thinks the dog has gotten into the garbage.
Brandi enlists the help of her boyfriend, Rashid (Russell Hornsby), in an attempt to kill and dispose of Tom. Rashid is a drug dealer who claims that he's disposed of people before. Meanwhile, Tom is able to pull himself from the windshield, but before he can escape from the garage, Rashid and Brandi restrain him. They go back into Brandi's house and decide to kill Tom and hide the evidence by burning both Tom's corpse and the car.
Rashid returns to the garage and prepares to shoot the apparently unconscious Tom with a revolver. But Tom, secretly awake, manages to stab Rashid through the eye with a concealed pen, killing him. During the brawl, a shot is discharged from the gun, prompting Brandi to investigate. Tom tries to start the car, but Brandi enters the garage before he is able to do so. Tom knocks Brandi over and limps out of the garage towards the street, taking Rashid's gun with him.
Brandi pursues Tom, wielding a hammer from the garage. Tom pleads with Brandi to stay back, not wanting to fire on her, but she subdues him with the hammer. She drags Tom back to the garage and, in a panic, begins dousing the room with gasoline. She hopes that the police will conclude that Tom broke in, attacked Rashid, and accidentally became engulfed in flames while trying to burn the garage down. However, Tom is able to sneak back into the car, start it and drive forwards, pinning Brandi against the back of the garage.
Brandi begs for help, while Tom steps out of the car and lights a match. He asks why she didn't help him, and Brandi says she doesn't know and continues to plead for her life. Tom decides to spare Brandi and extinguishes the match. Brandi suddenly produces Rashid's revolver and fires on Tom, who ducks beside the car. A stray bullet ignites the gasoline, setting Brandi aflame. As she screams in pain, burning to death, Tom struggles to the front of the garage and is able to open the door. Tom stumbles out onto the driveway and collapses as neighbors surround him, alerted by the fire. Tom is helped away and turns to look back at the burning garage, where Brandi's screaming has ceased.