Sweet Virginia

Sweet Virginia is a 2017 neo-noir thriller film directed by Jamie M. Dagg, written by Benjamin China and Paul China, and starring Jon Bernthal, Christopher Abbott, Imogen Poots, Rosemarie DeWitt, Odessa Young and Jared Abrahamson. It was released on November 17, 2017, by IFC Films. Plot Tom, Lou, and Mitchell are playing poker at Lou's bar. A man enters and asks to be served. When Mitchell tells him to leave because the bar is closed, the man threatens him and angrily leaves. The man returns and shoots Lou, Mitchell, and Tom. The next morning Sam wakes up after dreaming about his former days as a bull rider. He starts his morning at the motel by reading about the shootings in the paper and then responding to a disturbance in room 128. Sam politely and shyly asks the tenant to quiet down, only to have the door shut in his face. Later that day, Tom's wife, Bernadette, goes on the porch during a gathering for her deceased husband and asks Sam if he can come by to no avail. Sam has trouble lifting his right arm and walks with a limp due to injuries suffered from bull riding. Bernadette, ignoring Sam's earlier wish, wakes Sam in the middle of the night for sex to which he obliges. They discuss whether Tom is in heaven or hell and Sam seems regretful of his relationship with Bernadette. Upon leaving the next morning, Bernadette picks up the picture Sam laid down. The photo is of a woman and a young girl. Lila meets the man who shot Mitchell, her husband, and asks why he killed Tom and Lou instead of only killing Mitchell as planned. Showing no remorse, he blames her for the circumstances because Mitchell didn't leave the bar as she said he would. The man then tells her she should be celebrating because Mitchell has been killed as she wanted. He asks about his payment, and Lila tells him she will have it by the end of the week after she meets with Mitchell's lawyer. Lila tells the man she wanted Mitchell dead because he'd been unfaithful. Upon visiting Mitchell's lawyer, Lila learns that Mitchell was bankrupt, had lied about his life-insurance policies, and was being sued by former business partners. The bank now owns her home and there is no money. Mitchell's killer later approaches Sam at the motel and introduces himself as Elwood. He extends his stay at the motel and begins giving Sam praise as a famous bull rider. He tells Sam that his father was a huge fan of Sam and would have loved to meet him but he's now deceased.