Downriver (film)

Plot

James is a young man who has epilepsy and has recently been granted parole from the juvenile detention centre in which he has spent the last eight years. When he was ten, he drowned a little boy, Chris McCarthy, in a river at a caravan park, although the body was never found. After being released, he returns to the caravan park in order to find and return the body to the grieving mother. He moves into the old cabin he used to live in with his mother and befriends Damien, the boy next door. James tells Damien that Chris had been his brother. He is eventually joined at the park by his mother Paige and her new boyfriend, Wayne. Paige tells Wayne that James is her nephew and that her son died.

Despite the fact that his family took out a restraining order against James, James is approached by his former friend Anthony. Anthony was with him when he killed Chris and gave evidence that convicted James, leading to animosity between them. Anthony has turned into a lazy, drug-addicted hustler. He tries to dissuade James from looking for the body, reasoning that the local wild dogs probably took it. James refuses and in retaliation, Anthony seduces Damien.

James and Damien visit Mary, a local woman who keeps several dogs, to ask her about the possibility of the wild dogs taking the body. She dismisses the idea and mentions that Anthony and another boy, Ray, killed one of her dogs a few years back. Wracked with guilt, Ray came to her to confess. James then visits Ray and asks him about the dog they killed. Ray admits that he and Anthony were playing in the tunnels under the bridge with the dog until Anthony tricked the dog into jumping into a hole from which it couldn't escape. This gives James the idea that Anthony hid Chris's body in the tunnels under the bridge.

James discusses his search with Paige. She reveals that after the drowning, James had an epileptic seizure and Anthony got him help, not leaving his side until many hours later. This leads James to realise that Anthony could not have hidden the body.

James organises a fishing trip with Damien's family and Wayne near the bridge. He sneaks off and explores the tunnels. Though he finds the hole Ray mentioned, it is filled with water and he is unable to search it further. When he returns to the others, Damien reveals that Chris didn't have any brothers and guesses that James was his killer. He tells him to stay away from his family. The stress causes James to have a seizure in the water and he nearly drowns. When they return to the park, Wayne reveals to Paige that he knows James is her son.

Finally James visits Amos, who owns the local shop and has been blackmailed by Anthony for many years. Amos reveals that Anthony and his brother Joe once had a younger sister, Bettina, who suddenly disappeared one day and the family never spoke of her again.

In the meantime, Damien goes to Anthony's house. Anthony is away so he talks to his father Gianni. His attempts at conversation, relating a story Anthony told him about a drowned baby, raise Gianni's suspicions. Gianni knocks Damien unconscious and Joe drives him away in the car. When Anthony returns home later, Gianni beats him and questions him about what he has been saying about his sister, someone Anthony clearly doesn't remember.

James returns home to Paige and tearfully reveals what happened the day of the drowning. Anthony, with vague recollections of Bettina, had asked James to 'steal him a sister'. They had selected Chris, lured him away from his family, and played with him on the riverbank until Anthony started abusing Chris and pressured James to drown the boy before they got in trouble for their 'theft'. Paige then remembers that although Anthony was there all evening, he did speak to Joe, giving Joe an opportunity to move the body.

Joe and Anthony then arrive and attempt to blackmail James into abandoning his search by beating Damien. This makes James even more determined to bring the family to justice. James and Damien escape to Mary's house, where they reconcile.

Short film