The Drowning Woman

Benjamin works from home to watch Hazel. She acts contrite, and he allows her back upstairs. She asks to visit her mother, and Nate, the security guard, convinces Benjamin to say yes. Hazel visits her mother, comfortable in her facility, and says goodbye.

Hazel decides that death by suicide is her only way out. She goes to take a bath, having stashed sleeping pills and vodka in the bathroom. She records a video suicide note, telling the truth about Benjamin, and schedules it to post on social media a week later. When she’s about to take the pills, she hears the doorbell and is surprised to hear a woman’s voice. She goes downstairs and sees a detective, who says that Benjamin is being arrested for conspiracy to commit her murder.

The detective asks for Hazel’s phone. She quickly deletes the suicide note video first. The officer tells her that they need to talk with her at the station.

Detective French asks Hazel about her marriage. She tells the detective about the abuse but omits all details about Jesse and Lee.

Hazel meets with a lawyer, Rachelle Graham, one of few who agree to see her given Benjamin’s reputation. Rachelle is competent and protective, but Hazel still lies to her. Rachelle agrees to represent Hazel and promises to keep her safe.

Hazel returns home. Vanessa comes over with a casserole and tells Hazel that her husband, David, and the other lawyers at the firm will get Benjamin’s charges dropped. She tells Hazel that she’ll need a divorce lawyer as well as Rachelle and advises her to get cash advances on her credit cards, sell some art and antiques, and hire a forensic accountant to access other accounts. She says, “I couldn’t let Benjamin destroy you. Not like he did with his first wife” (254). Hazel is surprised, and Vanessa tells her that Benjamin was married to a woman named Karolina for two years but told her and David not to mention this.

On Facebook, Hazel finds a woman she thinks may be Karolina and messages her, asking to talk about Benjamin. She goes to the bank and gets a cash advance of $100,000. At home, she finds a message from Karolina saying that Hazel can call her. However, when she does, a man answers, introducing himself as Peter, Karolina’s brother, and tells Hazel that his sister died four years ago.

Peter says that Karolina died by suicide, crashing her car into a concrete barrier. Benjamin made sure that she got nothing when they divorced, and he sent degrading videos of her to everyone she knew. Hazel calls Detective French to share these details. Rachelle calls, telling Hazel that Benjamin was denied bail and will remain in custody until his next hearing.

Rachelle calls again the next day and says that the police talked to Karolina’s mother, who spoke fondly of Benjamin, and that the police ruled her death an accident. Hazel realizes that she has been paid off and is angry that no one will take Karolina’s brother seriously. Then, Hazel’s mother’s care home calls and says that she is missing. Hazel suspects that Benjamin’s associates are responsible.

Dismissing Hazel’s suggestion that Benjamin is responsible for her mother’s disappearance, Rachelle asks her to come to review the prosecution’s case. Rachelle plays two recordings: In the first, Benjamin hires Carter to seduce and then drown Hazel; in the second, Carter tells Benjamin about his and Hazel’s “plan” to escape via boat and start a new life in South America. Rachelle tells Hazel that she must be honest with her.

Hazel admits that she and Carter were lovers but still doesn’t tell the truth about her plot to murder Benjamin or about Lee. Rachelle says that audio testimony is hard to prove and that they need to find Carter.

Hazel stays in her house, searching for clues about her mother’s whereabouts and Benjamin’s “master-slave” contract. The case against Benjamin is dismissed at the hearing. Rachelle suggests that Hazel check into a women’s shelter or a mental health facility. Hazel says that she can take care of herself.

Hazel packs some art and antiques in addition to her suitcase and calls a taxi. She buys a used car, gets a short haircut, bleaches her hair blonde, and gets a room in a roadside motel. She’s tempted to leave town but wants to find her mother first.

Deciding to keep moving, Hazel tries to find her mother. She buys a new phone, discards her old one, and gives her new number to her mother’s care home and Rachelle. A woman from the care home calls and tells Hazel that her mother was found dead. At first, Hazel thinks that Benjamin killed her, but then she goes to the park where her mother was found and is overcome by the feeling that her mother came to the park, where they used to picnic, of her own volition.

Hazel wakes from a nightmare, sure that she needs to leave the motel she stayed in for the night. As she goes to her car, Benjamin appears and tells her that he plans to have her committed since he can’t have her talking about him to future women he may want to groom. A housekeeper asks if they’re okay, and when Benjamin turns to dismiss her, Hazel tries to stab him with her keys. His flinch gives her time to get in the car and drive away.

Lee drives, considering changing her hair and car again and going to Montana. She plans to discard her new phone but is distracted by a panic attack. She begins to feel hopeless again, knowing that Benjamin will eventually find her. She donates the art and other valuable items to a church charity shop and drives toward her home and the beach. Detective French calls to say they that found Carter’s jawbone and that Nate’s story about killing him in self-defense to protect his employer doesn’t add up. The detective asks for Hazel’s help, but she says good luck and hangs up. She digs in the sand for the fake passport she buried for herself and calls a taxi to the airport.

Lee, as Kelly, works in her small beach restaurant in Panama. Hazel, as Nora Harmsworth, comes in and asks if they can talk. They have a beer on the beach, and Hazel tells Lee about Benjamin’s arrest and apologizes. Lee tells Hazel that she needs help in the restaurant, willing to give her a chance.