| Director | Zak Hilditch |
|---|---|
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $2.9 million |
In 1922, Wilfred "Wilf" James is a farmer living in Hemingford Home Nebraska, with his wife, Arlette James, and their 14-year-old son, Henry. Arlette inherits additional land from her father and wants the family to sell up a livestock company and move to Omaha. When Wilf objects, she plans to divorce him and take Henry with her. Wilf convinces Henry to help murder his mother, as Henry is in love with the daughter of a neighboring farmer, Shannon Cotterie, and does not wish to move. Henry reluctantly agrees.
Wilf gets Arlette drunk and Henry covers her face while Wilf cuts her throat. He dumps her body into a dry well, where her corpse is fed upon by rats. They are visited by the livestock company's lawyer who does not believe their claim that Arlette left them during the night. They drop a cow into the well to hide Arlette's body and provide a justification for filling it in. Sheriff Jones examines their house but finds no evidence of a crime.
As time passes, Henry becomes increasingly depressed and Shannon becomes pregnant with his child. Her parents decide to send her to a Catholic institution. Henry steals Wilf's car and runs away with Shannon.
As the winter progresses, Wilf sees rats everywhere and drinks heavily. The house and barn fall into a state of disrepair, and he is bitten on the hand by a rat which becomes infected. Wilf is confronted by a vision of his wife, surrounded by the rats that ate her corpse. She recounts the fate of Henry and Shannon. They became robbers, known as the "Sweetheart Bandits". During one of their heists, Shannon is shot, causing her to miscarry the baby and ultimately die. Henry lies down next to her and shoots himself.
Wilf is found by the sheriff and taken to the hospital where his hand is amputated. He is told that an unidentified woman's body has been found on the side of the road, which the sheriff assumes is Arlette. Henry's body is delivered to Wilf, which like his mother's body, has been chewed through by rats. He attempts to sell his land to Shannon's father, who tells Wilf to never come back. After selling the land to the livestock company at a low price, Wilf moves to Omaha and finds a job but cannot escape being followed by rats.
Eight years later, in 1930, Wilf writes his confession, concluding, "In the end, we all get caught." By the time he finishes, dozens of rats have swarmed his room. Arlette, Henry, and Shannon's corpses have appeared in front of Wilf. Brandishing the same butcher's knife used to kill his mother, Henry tells Wilf that his death will be quick.