Paradigm

Morgan Shaw is an everyman. In his late 30s, he works at a decent job, owns a nice house in the country, jogs in the evenings, and engages in playful banter with his wife, Abbie. She is a successful author of books on botany, though is a bit on the cold and distant side despite loving her husband. She can’t stand Morgan's best friend, Tommy Kremwell, a social incompetent living off an inherited trust fund. For the first time in his life, Tommy has found himself in a relationship with a woman, who he desperately wants Morgan to meet. Over Abbie’s objections, Morgan invites Tommy and his girlfriend to dinner. Upon meeting Christine King, who acts like a stereotype of an overbearing trashy Southerner, Morgan feels uneasy, as if he’s met her before. Seeing a tattoo on her lower back sends Morgan into a panic — which leads him to dig out his revolver. Twelve years earlier, he had been madly in love with a woman named Carrie Bachman, who portrayed herself as a braying New Yorker and is now passing herself off as the new persona of Christine, including a complete makeover. Back then, she had worked for a check cashing company and convinced Morgan to take part in stealing from it. Lovestruck, he went along with it even though he knew it was wrong. Carrie laid out the concept, and Morgan pretended to “rob” her, after which the two buried the stolen $250,000 with plans to retrieve it after things cooled down. Unfortunately, the police showed up at his door. He soon realized that Carrie set him up — this was a routine she performed from city to city and the police wanted her. Morgan agreed to help set her up in exchange for his freedom. She was subsequently arrested, convicted, and sentenced to over a decade in prison. Now free, Carrie has returned not only for revenge, but also for her money. Upon confronting Morgan, he tells her that he does not have the money and threatens her with the gun, which he has to hide when interrupted by Abbie and Tommy. He has to protect his secret. She resumes her false guise and leaves with Tommy, who she convinces needs to “play a trick” on his friend for mistreating the two of them. Weeks earlier, Carrie had paid a surprise visit to Abbie, who knew about her and Morgan's past. Abbie tried to protect Morgan by setting Carrie onto Tommy to get her hands on his trust fund. Carrie then preyed upon Tommy, but also had other plans. After the dinner guests leave, Morgan decides to reveal his long-kept secret to Abbie, who shows empathy toward him for all he had endured. But before he can reveal the location of the stolen cash, Carrie and Tommy return to the house and cut the power. Carrie manages to take possession of Morgan’s pistol and then holds Abbie hostage. Carrie reveals Abbie's own secret to Morgan — not only did she know about the stolen money all along, but before meeting Morgan, Abbie had worked with Carrie in the cash checking store all those years ago and was actually party to Carrie’s plot to steal the money and set Morgan up for the fall. However, she was the one who had tipped off the police to Carrie’s scheme and had testified against her in court. Several years later, she “accidentally” met Morgan and initiated their relationship. Morgan has little time to react to this news when Carrie shoots him. At gunpoint, she forces Tommy to roll Morgan in plastic and put him in the trunk of his car with instructions to dump him in the lake. Abbie escapes from her confinement and rescues Morgan, who is in pain but is hanging on. As he fights for his life, Abbie and Carrie confront one another and Tommy reveals one final secret. The final confrontation turns deadly, as Morgan learns that even the closest people can be hiding who they really are.