Bitter Harvest

Based on a newspaper article from years ago about a man who had taken a bank hostage, after losing his farm, and then eventually taking his own life. I wondered if I could find a sympathetic story as to why someone would choose to do that. Throughout the events of a single day, we see the story of Brian Haver - A farmer who has recently lost his son in a farming accident and is on the brink of losing the farm itself. He is visited by his dead son and is told the things that he must do to "make things right" no matter how horrible they might be. Including killing his wife and the loan officer of the bank. He "succeeds" at both, but his relationship with his dead son begins to unravel. He takes a hostage and returns to the family farm. With his psychiatrist, the police, the media and his loving sister closing in, it is discovered that Brian's "murder" of his wife is in his imagination. He makes his final stand in the loft of his barn where he battles with his "son" and "wife," in his mind, for his soul, his sister's love and his life.