Summer 1965, Minnesota. Two boys, Bob and Tim, are canoeing near the headwaters of the Mississippi River. A whirlpool overturns Bob’s canoe and traps him underwater. Tim jumps into the river and manages to pull him to the shore, saving his life.
Twenty years later, Bob and his wife Ann live on the outskirts of Minnesota. Both work as literary translators, underpaid and trapped in a silent routine. They hardly talk about anything other than money, work, and exhaustion.
One night, a car crashes into their garden and destroys the fence. At the wheel is Tim, now an adult, gravely wounded by a gunshot. Bob recognizes him immediately. Without asking questions, Bob and Ann help him into the house and hide the car. Tim asks them not to take him to the hospital: he has taken part in a robbery and the police are looking for him. Ann cleans and bandages the wound while the lights of a police patrol car pass in front of the house.
Tim spends the night hidden in the house. The next morning, Bob goes out to buy medical supplies at a veterinary store. Meanwhile, Ann opens the trunk of Tim’s car and discovers a bag full of money. Without telling Bob, she takes part of the loot.
Once recovered, Tim leaves at dawn for an isolated cabin in the woods. There, he discovers that money is missing. Shortly afterward, Ann shows up with a new car and an electric typewriter. She confesses to Bob that she stole three bundles of bills from Tim and used the rest to partially pay off the mortgage. Bob panics. They argue. Ann shows no remorse.
That same night, Tim reappears at the house and demands the money. When he learns they no longer have it, he imposes a solution: Bob and Ann must help him in future robberies until the stolen amount is repaid. He leaves them no choice.
Days later, Ann drives the car in a new bank robbery. Bob and Tim go inside armed. Inside, a frightened child chokes on a piece of candy. Against Tim’s orders, Bob intervenes and saves the child’s life, even handing his gun to the mother in order to do so. The robbery continues, and they manage to escape after a tense police chase.
Back home, Bob is shaken. Ann, on the other hand, feels euphoric. For the first time in years, she feels alive. She begins stealing small objects, provoking the neighbors, and neglecting her work. Bob watches as Ann drifts further and further away from the life they shared.
After a fierce argument, Ann breaks up with Bob, calling him boring and predictable, and goes to live with Tim.
Bob adopts a stray dog. He follows the successive robberies committed by Ann and Tim in the press until, one night, Ann appears at his house gravely wounded. Tim is dead. Ann tells Bob they are no longer safe there and asks him to take her to Tim’s cabin, where she believes money is hidden, although she does not know where.
Bob agrees. During the drive, Ann’s condition worsens. Upon arriving at the cabin, Bob discovers that Ann has died from her injuries. He buries her beside the cabin. The dog uncovers a hidden stash containing bags full of cash and jewels.
Bob begins writing his own novel, his long-postponed dream, with the dog asleep at his side.
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