Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton) lives a happy middle-class life in Tahoe City, California. Her husband is a pilot on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation. She is startled to discover that her son Beau (Jonathan Tucker), a high school senior, has been having a sexual affair with 30 year-old night club owner Darby Reese (Josh Lucas) in Reno, Nevada. The affair becomes apparent when a drunken Beau wrecks his car returning from Reno one night. The next day, Margaret visits Darby's nightclub, The Deep End, to demand that he stay away from her son. Darby offers to stay away for $5,000. Margaret attempts to discuss her son's gay orientation, but Beau refuses. They argue and Margaret forbids Beau to visit Reno again. That night, Darby secretly visits Beau and the two meet in the boat house. Beau confronts Darby about asking his mother for money. The two argue, eventually coming to blows. As Beau flees back to the house, Darby leans on a railing which collapses. Darby falls below, impaling himself on an anchor.
The next morning, Margaret discovers Darby's body on the beach. She deduces that Beau and Darby had an altercation which resulted in Darby's death. In a panic, Margaret decides to get rid of the body by dumping it in a cove. The body is soon discovered and the police investigate it as a homicide. Soon after, Alek "Al" Spera (Goran Visnjic) confronts and blackmails Margaret with a tape that Darby recorded of one of his sexual encounters with Beau. Alek demands $50,000 in 24 hours or he and his partner will turn the tape over to the police which would implicate Beau in Darby's murder. He says, "You have to get the money. Is that not clear enough?" Margaret tries everything to get the money, however she does not have enough time. Surprises keep coming and the plot thickens. The bad guys are caught by the end of the movie, but there are several flaws in the plot, including why the mother didn't just call the cops in the first place. If she thought her son had actually murdered the victim, why didn't she even mention it to him?
The theme, settings, plot, and dialogue are very good in this movie. It holds the viewer's attention and the emotions run high. It's a drama as well as a thriller, with twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Peter Nashel composed the music. Scott McGehee and David Siegel directed and wrote the screenplay from Elisabeth Sanxay Holding's novel "The Blank Wall".
