Into the Eclipse

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon, and the Truth.” - BUDDHA While trying to escape her mysterious kidnapper, LYNDA BREVEL (32) gets into a car accident. When she wakes up in the hospital, two detectives are waiting for her. As two kilos of cocaine have been found in her car, she is arrested and taken into custody the following day. The two detectives in charge of the investigation, KENNETH MILLER (mid-50s), a misogynist old cop, and his colleague CLARK WILLIAMS (early-30s), a rookie, quickly start the interrogation process. Lynda tells them the drug belongs to her kidnapper, a man who pretends his name to be DYLAN LEVERB (mid-30s). She met him with her friends at a hike near Mount Diablo two weeks ago. She explained that Dylan forced her to take him to her apartment, where he drugged and raped her repeatedly. Lynda’s blood tests and medical examination appear consistent with her allegations. Her blood contains a whole smorgasbord of drugs, including cocaine and valium. She has vaginal and anal lesions, ligature wounds over her wrists, and cigarette burns over her legs. Her story seems very compelling. During the search of Lynda’s apartment, the police discover a gun and the wallet of a woman named JESSICA LANDER. They cannot find Jessica, but the gun seems to be the same one used in the murder of DIEGO ALVAREZ (mid-50s), a drug dealer shot three weeks ago. Lynda selects GILL SILVERSTONE (mid-30s), a woman criminal lawyer, to defend her. But as Lynda can't afford her bail, she gets transferred to the county jail. In her cell, Lynda is haunted by the morbid souvenir of her junkie stepfather, who abused her throughout her childhood. The two detectives finally identify a suspect, HENRI DYLAN LAFAYETTE (mid-30s), but he slips through their fingers. Soon after, the investigation takes a more sinister turn when the corpses of Jessica and her boyfriend are found in a ravine near Mount Diablo. Meanwhile, Dylan is haunting Lynda’s nights in jail. In her nightmares, he keeps appearing in her reflection in the mirrors and tracking her in the forest. When the detectives question Lynda about the tragedy in Mount Diablo, Gill advises her to collaborate, as finding Dylan is the best strategy to prove her innocence. Lynda reveals that Dylan was flirting with Jessica and that he must have killed both of them during the solar eclipse before kidnapping her. Despite their efforts, the detectives cannot find evidence of Dylan’s presence on Mount Diablo. The investigation tightens around Lynda as the coroner's report indicates that Jessica’s neck presents a bite mark probably made by a woman’s jaw. Kenneth uncovers the sordid truth when he realizes that Dylan Leverb is an anagram of Lynda Brevel. There is no longer any doubt about her culpability. Lynda and Dylan are one and the same. Lynda must have developed a dissociative identity disorder because of the sexual abuse she endured in her youth. Dylan became her evil side, an embodiment of her wrath and thirst for revenge. Her revenge against her former stepdad, Diego, whom she shot and stole the drug from. Her revenge against Jessica, whom she loved in secret, and finally pushed off the cliff as she rejected her feelings. Taking a high dose of cocaine would have added paranoia to her schizophrenia, explaining why she was imagining being chased by Dylan. But, when Kenneth and Clark rush to the county jail, it is already too late. Lynda chokes her lawyer to death in the jail’s visiting room. She takes Gill’s clothes and wears her large glasses to impersonate her and escape from jail. Shortly afterward, she leaves the premises with Gill’s car, and Dylan appears in the central rear window.