Autumn Blood

Synopsis

Phil Canterbary walks from his job to his home as if he was the lead character from Eraserhead. And his daily routine life seems marginally surreal. He counsels juveniles with the department of social services, but he isn't really listening to them.

Part of his daily routine is to buy a lottery ticket. 4-8-13-26-30-37. He never wins. And he goes home every night to his cramped apartment where he lives with his Mother. But Mother has a problem. She doesn't go out. And if a stranger knocks on her door to sell her something, she kills them. Hanging them is her preference. And Phil returns home to the bodies.

To protect his mother, Phil makes a routine of getting rid of the evidence as if it's just part of a normal day. It doesn't matter if he lectures her about her behavior. She isn't going to change.

This is all part of Phil's numb lifestyle, until he counsels an abused adolescent named Darlene. Darlene is withdrawn, defensive and pregnant by her abusive stepfather. Her mother won't believe she's not guilty of leading the stepfather on, and Phil's heart goes out to the girl. He connects with Darlene because he is reminded of his own abused family history. And as Phil tries to help the girl find her place in the world, he begins to fall in love.

He also begins to stand up to his mother as he fends off the flirtations of a gay Elvis impersonator who lives in his building.

Then it happens. Phil wins the lottery. And in self defense, he kills his mother. As Phil tries to cover up the murder, he finds the two people closest to him closing in on the truth - Darlene and Elvis. And as they get closer, Phil finds his world - the world that was supposed to get better from a lottery win - falling apart.