Plot: A famous Hollywood director is feeling dissatisfied with his life, the issues in it including the disintegration of his marriage which will probably end with an expensive divorce and loss of custody of his young daughter. To get away from his life if only for a short period, he drives into the Mojave Desert. The getaway doesn't turn out the way he expects, the major turning point being when a sociopathic drifter stumbles into his camp. That encounter ends up with both men seemingly wanting to kill the other. What the director is unaware of is that the drifter, who didn't know who he was during their encounter, ends up finding out who he is and about his life, which makes him an easier target once the director returns to Los Angeles. The drifter seemingly wants to torture the director by threats of harm against the director's friends, associates and/or loved ones, including his current girlfriend, a French actress, regardless of if the threats are real or just used as that psychological torture. Their game of cat and mouse takes a further twist when an innocent third party is accidentally killed, each man who wants to frame the other in that death. Ultimately, each man sees a poetic ending to their standoff, the only difference in their views being who will be the one left standing at the end.
Alternative Plot: A down-and-out artist (Garrett Hedlund) has a dangerous and shocking encounter with an evil drifter (Oscar Isaac) in the desert, leading to terrifying consequences when the deadly stranger follows his unsuspecting victim home.
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