91 min - Thriller - 23 January 2015 (USA)
A newly divorced woman falls for a younger man who has recently moved in across the street from her, but their torrid affair soon takes a dangerous turn.
Initial release: January 21, 2015 (Trinidad and Tobago)
Director: Rob Cohen
Running time: 91 minutes
Screenplay: Barbara Curry
Music composed by: Nathan Barr, Randy Edelman
PLOT
High school literature teacher, Claire Peterson (Lopez) separates from her husband Garrett (John Corbett), after he was caught cheating with his secretary. They have a teenage son, Kevin (Ian Nelson). Her colleague, best friend, and vice principal Vicky Lansing (Kristin Chenoweth) urges Claire to divorce Garrett, who wants to repair the marriage. Claire meets 20-year-old Noah Sandborn (Ryan Guzman)—the orphaned grandnephew of her wheelchair-bound neighbor—who has just moved in next door. Noah befriends Kevin and begins attending his school, where Claire teaches English literature. He becomes drawn to her, expressing love for Homer's Iliad, which impresses her. With Kevin and Garrett away on a fishing trip, Claire watches a naked Noah in his room through her window and he sees her.
A double date Claire goes on with Vicky, her boyfriend Ethan (Travis Schuldt), and his ill-mannered friend Cooper (Brian Mahoney) at a restaurant goes awry, further weakening her confidence. With Kevin still away, Noah calls a dispirited Claire over to help him defrost and cook a chicken. She ends up having dinner with him, during which he unashamedly flirts with her. Despite Claire's hesitation, she lets Noah seduce her and they have sex. Claire tells Noah that she regrets their night together, causing him to punch a wall in rage. The school year begins, with Noah joining an uncomfortable Claire's class after hacking into her computer, making it appear as if she had requested this. Noah manipulates Kevin into hating his father, causing him to lash out at Garrett and storm upstairs. Later, Kevin overexerts himself at the gymnasium and goes into shock. Noah saves his life by injecting him with his EpiPen. Claire receives flowers from Noah and she confronts him about this. Noah witnesses Claire on a date with Garrett and his obsession with her escalates.
After an incident where Noah—in defense of Kevin—slams a bully named Jason's head into a locker repeatedly, he is called into Vicky's office. She discovers that Noah was kicked out of his previous school for disorderly conduct. Noah insults her so she expels him. During the fall fling, Claire goes to investigate a leak in the boy's bathroom, where she instead sees the words "I fucked Claire Peterson" written on the wall before Noah emerges. He attempts to force himself on her, but she fends him off and demands that he stay away from her and Kevin. That night, she sees Noah having sex with Allie (Lexi Atkins), the girl Kevin has a crush on, through her window. The following day, Noah leaves a printer running in Claire's classroom, with images of them having sex scattered everywhere. Principal Warren (Hill Harper) notices the students locked out and urges Claire to open the door. Just when he unlocks the door himself, all the pictures are gone and he calls her out to talk in the hallway. He tells her that someone has told him that she forced herself on a student and her behavior lately is out-of control. He leaves her with a warning. When Garrett offers Kevin a spin in his Dodge Challenger, Kevin starts to drive fast out of anger towards him. When the brakes fail to work, he and Kevin are nearly involved in an accident. Noah blackmails Claire, telling her that he has a tape of them having sex, which he will relinquish to her if she continues sleeping with him and refuses. Claire organizes a plot with Vicky to steer Noah away from his house. Claire breaks into Noah's house and sees hundreds of images of herself in his basement. She finds his laptop, deleting their sex tape and also sees images of car brakes, implying that he rigged Garrett's brakes. She meets with a detective (François Chau) who informs her that Noah's father was killed after swerving into a truck with his minivan.
Noah binds and gags Vicky, using an audio recording of her voice to lure Claire to her house. When Claire arrives, she discovers Vicky's dead body, with her throat having been slashed by Noah. A horrified Claire contacts the police, but runs into Noah again. He reveals to her that his mother killed herself after his father cheated on her, so he rigged the brakes of his father's minivan, killing him and his mistress. Noah takes Claire to a barn house where he has kidnapped Garrett and Kevin, threatening to kill them unless Claire stays with him. A violent altercation occurs as Claire attempts to free them. Noah pours kerosene around the barn, causing it to ignite in flames. Garrett, having freed himself, attempts to choke Noah with a rope, prompting Noah to shoot him in the chest. Claire stabs Noah's eye with Kevin's EpiPen, and when he later holds Kevin at gunpoint, she pulls a switch that drops an engine on Noah, killing him. Claire and Kevin help a wounded Garrett exit the burning barn house and into an ambulance. The doctor says Garrett will be fine and the ambulance drives off into the night as the movie ends.
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