All Things Broken

A drained backyard pool littered with dead leaves sets a tone of abandonment that echoes through the story. At the University of Florida’s Plaza of the Americas, Senator Tammy Claypool samples chili with her husband, Cy, and aide, Connie, while anti-gun protesters chant nearby. Amid police tension, a student bursts a balloon of red liquid onto Tammy, captured by swirling cameras. The couple regroups in a hospital room, covered in oversized Gator gear, discussing politics until Tammy returns to the spotlight. Connie rushes Cy to the garage, warning that his protective leap may harm Tammy’s image—yet loyalty leads him into Alice Baker’s trap. Though Alice claims her minivan has a flat, Cy finds nothing wrong—until she jabs a syringe into his neck. He struggles, starts his truck, but another injection disables him. Alice, momentarily regretful, regains her resolve, shoving Cy into the trunk beside a wheelchair, weapons, and a unicorn backpack. She drives off, records a hostage video in the forest, forcing a groggy Cy to beg Tammy to pass an assault-weapons ban or face his death. She silences him with another injection, texts the clip to Tammy and Connie, crushes his phone under her tire, and vanishes into the night. Cy awakens in a shipping container, pounding on transparent walls adorned with cut-out hearts. A locked bathroom ends his plumbing escape attempt. Alice appears, offering food, clothes, and photos as proof of life. He condemns her plan’s futility. Meanwhile, Tammy watches the same video with FBI agent Sean and tech Britney, parsing tree species and cicada sounds for clues. Alice’s house reeks of stale coffee as Cy reads Viktor Frankl’s work and flashes back to his own trauma. Memories also haunt Alice: the death of her daughter Sabrina, her own attempted drowning, and a fog of postnatal despair. When Cy resists, Alice beats him with a rifle and wheels him past hidden canvases stocked with weapons. The container is near a ranch house—the same home with the empty pool seen earlier. In the woods, she fires into a tree, recalling Sabrina’s final moments, unable to send the footage she recorded. Tammy’s ride through D.C. traffic is marked by composure masking dread. Connie’s reassurances fall short. Alice marks the wall inside the cell with a timeline of massacres beginning with Sandy Hook. She tapes Sabrina’s pink heart nearby and sends the rifle footage to Tammy, who sobs alone before returning to the Senate floor. Later, Alice frees one of Cy’s wrists. They talk about his autistic grandson and the cost of shielding senators from raw footage. Alice writes an email: screen the footage, or Cy dies. Tammy, reading the ultimatum in a sushi restaurant, contacts Sean. The proposed screening, behind closed doors, unnerves allies and enemies alike. In Georgia, Sean finds a shattered phone and tire marks matching a 2005 Honda Odyssey. Alice, parked outside an ice cream shop, dodges her son Declan, numbs herself in a liquor aisle, and returns home to Tammy’s message, triggering an argument with Cy. The doorbell rings: it’s Brian, her husband. Alice hides weapons and music blares to muffle Cy’s cries. Brian, worried, notes the alcohol and mental state but sits with her. She confesses stalking Tammy with a loaded gun before choosing kidnapping. Brian removes the hidden weapon and listens as Alice describes missed therapy and fading hope. He leaves with Declan for baseball. When Alice finds Cy missing, panic erupts. Rifle fire shreds the container until a cough reveals he was hiding, not escaping. Breathing techniques learned from Cy help her regain control. She decides to wait another day. Britney refreshes data as Tammy waits for progress. A blurry image of a Honda Odyssey appears, reigniting hope. Alice paints to Lou Reed while Cy lies motionless. At dusk, she grills in silence. They watch a news scroll about the delayed vote, both frustrated. Alice details her study of the AR-15 used in Sabrina’s killing; Cy shares stories of his impulsive daughter and enjoys whiskey despite his condition. Tammy drinks in her office until Senator Clara Bailey warns her that voting yes could break caucus unity. At dawn, Cy and Alice debate meaning and vengeance. She wheels him to the glowing pool, where sunrise and grief collide. Sean launches a drone while Britney tracks battery and GPS blips. Tammy submits to a secure screening of school shooting footage, emotion cracking her usual reserve. Later, she records a message for Cy, pledging to read every victim’s name on the Senate floor. Alice and Cy watch together, touched but tethered to uncertainty. Tammy can’t guarantee the bill will pass. Alice explodes, destroying her studio until Declan FaceTimes. She shows him a blank canvas and adds a white dot representing him. She promises more paintings when he visits and locks Cy away again. Tammy serves coffee to Britney, feigning calm. On her desk lie Cy’s photos. Alice handles Sabrina’s heart-shaped paper and replays the morning of her daughter’s death. She sets up a tripod so Cy can see Tammy sorting family photos and reminiscing. Tammy accidentally tears Alice’s paper heart, breaking her last composure. As the Senate convenes, Tammy rises and reads the names—ending with Sabrina Baker—forcing senators to confront what they’ve ignored. When the roll call arrives, Tammy votes no, her voice heavy with sorrow. The bill fails. Alice, in agony, unlocks the container, raises the AR-15, and kills Cy in a hail of bullets. She smears paint over every name and tally mark, draws a thick black heart, and writes “Simon ‘Cy’ Claypool.” Brian’s missed calls ring out as Alice grabs two backpacks—Sabrina’s unicorn and Declan’s shark—and walks inside. In Sabrina’s untouched room, she places a panda bear inside the shark backpack. A memory surfaces: pregnant Alice with Brian and Sabrina at a museum, where Sabrina called a Rothko painting “the moon.” Outside, Alice lies in the empty pool, the shark backpack on her chest. She stares at drifting clouds as a drone finally locates the property. Its hum breaks the stillness moments before the screen fades to white—leaving behind the drained pool and everything broken, suspended between sky and earth.