Just the Nicest Couple

Christian arrives home later than usual after playing basketball and drinking with friends. Lily again appears unsettled and updates Christian about the police investigation into Jake’s disappearance. Lily worries that she will end up in prison. Christian contemplates how guilty Lily will appear should Jake’s body be found. A witness can place her at the crime scene, and her DNA will likely be on his body. Christian believes that the reason Lily refuses to report Jake’s assault is out of respect for her friendship with Nina, and all circumstantial evidence (Lily has cuts and bruises) is fading. Jake is a respectable neurosurgeon with no prior record of criminal activity. Christian resolves to keep his wife and unborn child out of jail.

Christian helps Lily devise a plan to steal Nina’s copy of the BMW key so that he and Lily can hide Jake’s car. Lily will take the key out of Nina’s purse at school while Nina is out of her classroom. Lily expresses guilt and asks why Christian helps her, though she likely murdered a man. Christian comforts Lily and they have sex.

Nina travels to Jake’s workplace and speaks with his colleagues. She is struck by how many female coworkers Jake has, and she realizes that she only visited Jake at work once before and never entered his office. She feels that Jake intentionally keeps his work life separate from her. Nina asks about Jake’s schedule on Monday, the day he disappeared. The nurse with whom Jake works, Tricia, tells Nina that Jake left in the afternoon, a relatively unusual practice for him. Tricia assumed that Jake went to lunch or ran an errand, but he then failed to attend his four o’clock appointment. Tricia also mentions that Jake felt upset after meeting with the family members of a deceased patient. Nina then drives to the hospital where Jake operates and searches the parking deck for his car with no luck.

Back at school, Nina calls the florist, hoping to uncover the identity of the person who sent her flowers. The florist is unhelpful, telling Nina that she needs a police order to reveal the sender’s identity. Nina returns to her classroom to find Lily moving quickly away from her door. Lily lies about her presence, telling Nina that she came to tell her something but forgot what it was.

Panicked, Lily informs Christian that she could not find Jake’s car key in Nina’s purse at school. She remembers their garage code from when she pet-sat for Nina and Jake a few years prior. Christian plans to enter Nina’s house and search for the car key while Lily takes Nina to breakfast. He thinks about Lily, who experiences symptoms resembling panic attacks. He worries about his unborn baby.

Christian breaks into the house. He judges Jake and Nina’s extravagant home and neighborhood as pretentious, especially when he searches Jake’s office. He remembers when Jake and Nina had Christian and Lily over for dinner, and Jake bragged about his expensive liquor while the men sat in his office and the women in the kitchen. Christian remembers Jake as cold and insensitive, particularly when discussing his patients. Reflecting more on Jake causes Christian to realize how distant and unloving Jake’s relationship with Nina felt from an outsider's perspective. Christian hopes that Jake died slowly and painfully.

Christian searches Jake’s desk drawers when he receives a text from Lily telling him to leave Nina’s house immediately.

Nina enjoys Lily’s company at one of Nina’s favorite restaurants. Nina updates Lily on the search for Jake, telling Lily about her trip to Jake’s office and the hospital and the futile investigation into Jake’s phone records. Nina admits that she still isn’t sure whether Jake simply left her; she acknowledges how frequently they fought before his disappearance. Lily asks more about Nina and Jake’s arguments, and Nina explains how jealous Jake acted regarding Nina’s close relationship with her mother.

Nina reveals that her mother has moved in with her. Lily startles at this announcement and excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Thinking about her mother, Nina remembers her own tumultuous upbringing. Nina’s parents fought relentlessly during Nina’s childhood. Nina’s father abandoned Nina and her mother in the middle of the night, leaving his family for another woman. She hasn’t seen or spoken to him since he left.

Lily returns, looking pale and uncomfortable. Nina senses that Lily is hiding something. Lily lies about the reason for her trip to the bathroom and ill state, eventually announcing her pregnancy and telling Nina that her pregnancy symptoms are to blame. In reality, Lily needed privacy to text Christian. Lily tells Nina that she is nine weeks into her pregnancy. Nina realizes how precarious these weeks are for Lily and Christian; the couple has experienced multiple miscarriages before the second trimester at 13 weeks gestation. Lily reassures Nina that the doctors believe that everything is fine.

In a panic, Christian moves back toward Nina and Jake’s kitchen. He hears noises upstairs and realizes that someone is in the house, which he believes Lily must have figured out, causing her to text. He moves quickly through the house, noticing an organizational mail holder. Christian quickly slips his hand into one of the holes, finding Jake’s key fob. He hears someone approaching and realizes that his only escape is through the garage. He exits quietly but must open the electronic garage door to leave the property. As he walks quickly to his car, he looks back to see Nina’s mother staring at him from the window. Christian rushes home, forgetting about Lily’s clothes stained with Jake’s blood in a bag in the back of his car.

Lily meets Christian at their home, reassuring Christian that Lily’s mother cannot see very well due to her macular degeneration. There is no way that she could reliably identify Christian. Christian waits all day for the police to arrest him at home, only for Nina to arrive unexpectedly late in the afternoon.

Nina returns from her breakfast with Lily, immediately noticing things out of place in her house. She sees the open garage door, mail spilled out of the organizer, and Jake’s office door open. Nina finds her mother in the guest room listening to an audiobook. Nina ponders all the activities in which her mother can no longer participate because of her macular degeneration.

Nina can tell that her mother is hiding something from her. After some prodding, Nina’s mother tells Nina that Jake briefly returned home, though he ran away from her when she announced her presence. Nina’s mother believes that Jake came home looking for something. Bereft, Nina retreats to Jake’s office. She regrets not installing a home security system or doorbell camera. Nina longs to see Jake and to know what he searches for. At the same time, she knows how angry and unforgiving Jake would be if she disappeared for several days without explanation.

Alarmed at seeing Nina, Christian rudely leaves her standing on the front porch despite it being a cold and rainy day. Nina asks to come in, and Christian considers killing Nina to prevent her from going to the police. Christian assumes that Nina knows that he was inside her house earlier. He immediately regrets his dark thoughts, knowing that he could never commit murder. Nina asks to speak privately with Lily. Christian reflects on the first time that Nina and Jake came over for dinner and how self-conscious Lily felt about their presence in her and Christian’s more humble home.

Christian eavesdrops on Lily and Nina’s conversation. Nina tells Lily about her mother seeing Jake inside their home when Nina and Lily were at breakfast. Lily comforts and reassures Nina, pointing out that Jake’s appearance means that he’s not hurt or worse. Nina agrees, and Lily suggests that his intentional separation might help the couple to grow closer in the long run. Christian feels proud of Lily’s warm and considerate affection for her close friend.

Later, Christian confesses to Lily his thoughts of harming Nina. The disturbing images have intruded on Christian’s thoughts all day, and he feels unsettled by them. Christian drives Jake’s car to an old hotel with a history of car break-ins. He believes that the higher crime indicates a lack of cameras and security at the location. Lily follows in her car. Christian parks in a dark spot behind the hotel. As the couple drives home, Christian hopes that they can begin to look forward to the future again and leave Jake in the past.