A jewel thief finishes a stint, and soon after receives a text from his mother to him and his brother that she needs help. His brother, the golden child, responds that he's not able to help this time: and our protagonist sees an open ...See moreA jewel thief finishes a stint, and soon after receives a text from his mother to him and his brother that she needs help. His brother, the golden child, responds that he's not able to help this time: and our protagonist sees an open window in which to *finally win clout with his mother. He scours the short-term rental website for his next opportunity to win big, and finds Persy, a single widow who gets lonely. When he pulls up to Persy's, she's outside gardening. Something on the ground catches his eye... he picks it up: did the old woman lose a diamond and not notice? Or is it just a cheap zirconium? He startles Persy, apologizes for the last-minute booking, and shares that he's in town for a concert. Persy shows him to his room, shares that there's a hot tub, and leaves him to continue on her garden. Our protagonist seizes this opportunity to search the home for valuables, successfully. This time Persy startles him. What are each and the other hiding, and why on such edge? Persy says she'd love for him to try some of her lemonade, he agrees and says he'll make his way to the hot tub. We see that Persy has to make herself post it note reminders to help with her memory. But they are mixed up. Persy shares her lemonade when our protagonist comes inside, and also shares some detail about something she added to his- mandrake root. He falls faint, and finds himself tied up in the basement- with something, or someone else, living down there. Persy joins them, and shares that the occupant is her son, whom she had to punish; and that his father didn't see eye to eye with her, so she disposed of him down there as well. The two taunt our protagonist for a bit, then Persy starts towards him with gardening shears; our protagonist screams that he has a mother too, while the two just laugh at him. We see the son later chewing on some bones- whose bones? Spring has come early, and we see Persy hammer a "Room for Rent" sign into her garden. The film explores themes of the mythological Persephone being a queen of both the underworld, and of spring. Persy's son's name is Zachary, similar to that of Persephone's. When Persephone admits the smiling boy in the picture is her son at a younger age, sitting next to him is an orchid with buds just about to bloom.
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