The Perfect Son

Marvin opens the door and tells Erika he’s not interested in whatever she is selling. She tells him she is his daughter, and he is shocked but excited to see her. He invites her in and she enters, noticing that the apartment is messy. Marvin wants to hear about Erika’s life, so she tells him she’s married and has two teenagers. Marvin is excited that he has grandchildren. She shows him a picture of Liam, and Marvin notes how much they resemble each other. Erika is surprised that Marvin is so nice; he doesn’t appear to be evil.

Marvin offers to tell Erika how he ended up in jail. He explains that a woman he was having an affair with became pregnant. She threatened to tell Erika’s mother, so he slipped her a pill to end the pregnancy. The pill killed her, perhaps because she hadn’t been pregnant in the first place, but the police assumed he killed her on purpose. Marvin tells Erika that he was trying to keep his family intact but lost it anyway. He says he wants to meet her family someday, and Erika says that it could happen. He asks for a photo of his grandkids, and she gives him a photo from her wallet. As Erika leaves, she thinks of everything she and Marvin missed because he went to jail. She wonders whether he is truly not evil or just a good actor.

Erika stops answering her phone because almost every call is a cruel prank. She wonders if she should have left Liam in jail. Jason calls to tell her he will be late coming home. He has lost several investors due to Liam’s arrest. Though she desperately wants him home but tells him it’s fine. While she’s watching television in her room, Liam comes in. Sobbing, he tells her he knows where Olivia is and wants to show her. Erika wants to call the police, but Liam says it’s a bad idea.

As Erika drives, Liam gives directions. She wants to tell Jason where they are, but Liam dissuades her. Erika worries that Liam is taking her to the woods to kill her. Erika spots Hannah’s bike as they turn into the woods. She tries to call the police but has no cell service. Liam tells her to keep driving.

Olivia is out of food and water. She hears footsteps, then a female voice. She calls out and Hannah unlocks the trap door. Shining a light in Olivia’s eyes, Hannah tells her that she followed her captor here the night before. She plans to help Olivia out of the hole and take her to safety. Olvia cannot climb out of the hole on her own, so asks Hannah to go for help. They hear footsteps, and Hannah turns and says, “Hi, Daddy.”

Jason thinks about how Erika talks and worries about Liam constantly. She and Hannah are very similar, while Liam takes after him. He married Erika so he could have an ordinary life but realized later that it was a mistake. He moved his family out of New York for an excuse to travel and kill people. Erika has never suspected he is a killer due to his talent and stealth, though Liam is less smart than his father. He reflects on his childhood, committing acts of animal cruelty and killing his first person. His parents beat him and hired an exorcist to cure his murderous tendencies, but it didn’t work. Following the exorcism, Jason burned down his house, making it look like an accident. His parents died in the fire, and the priest later after being mugged.

For the most part, Jason has lived a happy life, killing people and getting away with it. The skeleton in the hole with Olivia is a teenage runaway no one is looking for. Jason would have continued this existence if Liam hadn’t ruined his fun. Liam is sloppy, often getting caught when he tries to commit crimes. To cover his own tracks, Jason set Liam up for crimes. He staged the carbon monoxide poisoning at Liam’s teacher’s house, hoping the man and his family would die, resulting in Liam’s arrest for their murder. When Liam started spending time with Olivia, Jason saw another chance to set his son up.

When Liam came back from Olivia’s house the night of her disappearance, Jason went there. She was outside, and he called her over to the car. He told her that Liam was missing and asked for her help looking for him. When she got in the car to help, he knocked her out with chloroform. He planted her hair and blood in the trunk and planned to dump her body to ensure a conviction. Though he planned to sexually assault Olivia before killing her, he changes his plan after Hannah arrives at the cabin. He decides to make it look like Liam killed Olivia, then killed Hannah when she discovered his guilt. He plans to kill Erika with a drug overdose, revealing that he swapped her Xanax with something stronger months ago. Jason is excited to see how things turn out.

Olivia still can’t believe that Jason kidnapped her. When he told her to get in his car, she did because he seemed nice and was Liam’s dad. She realizes that people probably think Liam did something to her. She listens as Hannah begs her father not to hurt them. Jason accuses Hannah of ruining their family and offers to let her kill Olivia. She refuses, and he laughs because she is too much like Erika. He tells her that things will have to end for both her and Olivia, and Olivia hears Hannah scream.

Liam urges Erika on, and she realizes that he is scared. They come to a cabin, and Erika notices Jason’s Prius parked in front. She asks Liam what’s going on, and he tells her that Hannah told him she was going to go investigate and followed Jason to the cabin the night before. Liam worries Jason will harm Erika because he is behaving erratically. Erika is confused, and Liam tells her that she might not be able to see it like he can because he’s more like his father. He can’t believe she didn’t suspect anything. Erika recalls thinking Jason was having an affair and now wonders if the perfume she smelled belonged to a dead woman.

Still unconvinced that Jason is a killer, Erika follows Liam, and they run into Jason coming out of the cabin. Jason acts relieved that Erika is there, telling her that Liam killed Hannah and Olivia. Jason grabs Erika, telling her that they will get revenge for what Liam has done. Liam lunges at Jason, who holds a knife that Erika didn’t see before. She realizes he comforted Erika as an opportunity to sneak out the knife to try to kill her. Liam knocks Jason to the ground and jostles the knife away. Liam asks Erika to hand him the knife, but Jason tells her Liam will kill them both. Erika hands Liam the knife, and he stabs his father.

Erika is surprised that Liam knows where and how to stab Jason for maximum damage. Dying, Jason uses his last words to call Erika a “bitch.” Understanding that Jason was going to kill her and feeling that he deserves to die, Erika kicks him in the ribs. Liam urges Erika to the cabin so they can attempt to save the girls. In the cabin, they hear female voices. Hannah calls for Liam. He and Erika unlock the trap door to the hole and find Hannah and Olivia alive.

Olivia hears Erika calling for Hannah, who is in the hole with her. The trap door opens, and Liam looks down on the girls. He asks if they can get out, and Hannah tells him they both have injuries that prevent it. Liam jumps into the hole to help the girls, shocking Hannah with the amount of their father’s blood on him. Liam tells Erika that he needs her help getting the girls out of the hole. He lifts Olivia gently out of the hole, then Hannah. He carries Olivia to the car. On the way, he stops and looks down at his dead father.

The police interview Erika about the events at the cabin. She tells them that Jason came at her with a knife and told her both Hannah and Olivia were dead. As he lunged at her, Liam tackled him, jostling the knife from his grip. She grabbed the knife and stabbed Jason. The police question Erika’s version of events because most of the blood spatter was on Liam. However, because Olivia corroborated much of Erika’s story, they don’t plan on charging Erika with murder. Before Erika leaves, the police ask why she’s protecting Liam, and she pretends to not know what they are talking about.

Erika and Liam sit in a waiting room as Hannah gets X-rays. Erika realizes that the police do not believe her story but knows she lied to protect Liam from jail. She blames herself for marrying Jason and not realizing his evil nature. She is ashamed that she believed Liam was a murderer. Liam says she didn’t have to lie to the police because he killed Jason in self-defense, but Erika says it wasn’t self-defense, and she couldn’t let him go to jail again. She apologizes for thinking he was a murderer, and Liam admits that he’s given her a lot of reasons to believe him capable of murder. Erika thanks him for saving her and Hannah’s lives, especially since he can’t feel love for them. Liam finds her statement ridiculous, telling her he can—and does—feel love for her and Hannah. Erika sees that he’s telling the truth and realizes for the first time that he loves her.

Olivia is in the hospital, recovering from surgery. Her parents and Madison are visiting. Madison decides to decorate Olivia’s cast. When Liam arrives, Madison doesn’t want Olivia to see him because his father tried to kill her. Olivia reminds her that Liam saved her life, and Madison relents, leaving to give them privacy. Liam gives Olivia flowers and says he’s glad she’s okay. She asks about his family, asking if he misses his father. Liam responds that he’s not sure, especially because his father lied so much and hurt so many people. He realizes he never really knew his father. He asks if she’d like to get a vanilla milkshake when she gets out of the hospital. She agrees to the date.

Cooking eggs for her children, Erika reflects on the last year, surprised that they survived and she’s doing something as ordinary as making eggs for Hannah and Liam. Liam just returned from winning the state debate competition. The family learned that Jason was a serial killer, responsible for at least 12 murders over 25 years. Though the town initially turned on the Casses, Erika became a national hero after going on national television to tell the story of rescuing Olivia and killing Jason in self-defense. She turned down her old job at the newspaper because she got a book deal to tell her story.

Liam comes in from a run, looking energetic despite getting home late from the debate. He is still dating Olivia, and the two plan to go to college together. He goes upstairs to take a shower, and Erika listens to the radio as she makes his eggs. She hears a news story about a girl who went missing in Troy, New York, near Liam’s debate competition. She realizes that Troy and the site of the competition are close to each other. She tells herself that it’s a coincidence, and Liam is not like Jason. As she listens to Liam sing in the shower, the eggs burn.