A struggling caregiver turns to crime to pay for his father’s memory care, but when the job ends in bloodshed, he must decide if redemption is worth the price.

SYNOPSIS:

Graham Halstead, a struggling life insurance salesman in San Diego, has become the sole caregiver for his ailing father, John, whose Alzheimer’s has progressed to the point of unpredictable and sometimes dangerous behavior. When John wanders into traffic and is injured while Graham is out, the hospital urges Graham to consider long-term memory care – something he knows they can’t afford.

At home, John refuses medication, becomes paranoid, and even believes his own reflection is an intruder. With his job on the line, Graham is forced to confront the truth: he can no longer take care of his dad by himself. His older sister Danielle, in the middle of a divorce and juggling two kids, can’t help as much as she wants to, leaving Graham overwhelmed and alone.

Terrified of failing the only parent he has left, Graham makes a reckless decision. Using the last of their father’s savings, he places John in an assisted-living facility without telling Danielle. Furious, Danielle tries to remove John from the facility, but Graham signed a six-month, non-fundable contract.

Desperate to make things right, Graham turns to Miguel Vázquez, a childhood friend recently released from prison for drug trafficking. Miguel, now a mechanic, still runs small loads for the cartel, and Graham, needing cash, asks him for a couple of keys he can flip. Miguel initially refuses, afraid the cartel will retaliate, but Graham reminds him that it was John who was there for Miguel when his own father kicked him out and he had nowhere else to go.

Persuaded, Miguel secretly recruits Jerry, another mechanic, as a mule. He shows Graham a warehouse along the border, disclosing that the cartel smuggles cocaine into the U.S. through a tunnel inside. Knowing the time and route of Jerry’s first run, Miguel reveals the plan: intercept the shipment and steal the coke.

But the heist goes horribly wrong.

Held at gunpoint, Jerry rams Miguel’s car and flees. A high-speed chase ensues, ending when Graham slams Jerry off the road. While Miguel searches the wreck, Jerry reaches for a hidden gun. But before he can shoot Graham, Miguel pulls the trigger, killing him. Traumatized, Graham is given the coke to stash as Miguel burns the evidence.

The news reports the crash as an accident with “no foul play suspected.” Complicit in a man’s death, Graham is dealt another blow when Danielle files for legal conservatorship of John, accusing Graham of abandoning him.

Haunted by guilt, Graham finds comfort in Camila, a sex worker he’s been seeing. What begins as a transactional arrangement gradually evolves into a rare connection neither of them expected. When Camila reveals that her mother's death, her father’s deportation, and the responsibility of raising her younger brothers drove her into sex work, Graham realizes that what matters is being there for his father while he still can. But when he tries to walk away, Miguel blames him for Jerry’s death, leading to a violent fight.

With Graham out of the picture, Miguel meets Thiago, a local distributor. Meanwhile, Graham discovers Camila was assaulted, unaware that Thiago was the assailant. Seeing her in pain, he shows up at Miguel’s door, determined to finish what they started so she can leave sex work behind for good. An illegal immigrant, Camila anonymously reports Thiago to the DEA, having overheard a conversation about a drug deal.

Thiago’s house is raided and he is arrested. Enter Agent Saunders and Jackson, who offer Thiago protection in exchange for the name of his supplier. Instead, Thiago informs them of a new name on the street: Miguel. Saunders and Jackson orchestrate a second meeting between Thiago and Miguel, which Graham attends. As they dig into Graham’s background, the investigation unearths a family tearing apart, explaining the choices Graham made.

Later, in a brief moment of lucidity, John tells Graham his mother would be proud of him. It’s the final goodbye Graham never thought he’d receive and the closure he needed to let go. Danielle is granted conservatorship of John as Miguel and Graham head to the exchange location, unaware that the DEA has turned the deal into a sting operation.

Chaos erupts when Miguel spots Thiago’s earpiece and opens fire, igniting a shootout. Surrounded, Miguel sacrifices himself, killed by Jackson in the crossfire as Graham escapes with the cash. Saunders pursues Graham, chasing him through a shopping center. Panicked, Graham runs into the intersection and is struck by a cyclist. The bag tears open, money scattering across the street as agents swarm in and arrest him.

Graham is interrogated and offered leniency in exchange for telling them where he got the cocaine, but he refuses, punishing himself. Danielle, meanwhile, prepares to move John out of the assisted-living facility. While packing, John mistakes Danielle for his late wife and tries to kiss her.

Hours later, Danielle and Graham sit across from each other in a police interrogation room. She pleads with him to tell Saunders and Jackson where he got the cocaine, but he still refuses. Before she leaves, Danielle admits Graham didn’t abandon John, realizing that she was lying to herself – the father she knew is gone.

Heartbroken, Danielle returns to the assisted-living facility to finish packing, but to her shock, John’s living expenses have been paid for indefinitely. Camila, now working as a waitress, is reunited with her deported father as a SWAT team, led by Saunders, raids the cartel’s warehouse and finds the drug tunnel.

Months later, Graham, having struck a deal with the DEA to secure the futures of both his and Camila’s families, is serving a full sentence. A guard escorts him to the contact visiting area, where, to his surprise, Camila is waiting. He gives her a warm smile, softening the lines of self-contempt.

THE LONGEST GOODBYE