The Passion of Darkly Noon

Darkly Noon, a young man who has spent his entire life in a ultraconservative Christian cult, wanders into the Appalachian region of North Carolina after a violent incident and is rescued by an undertaker's assistant named Jude and his friend Callie, who nurses him back to health. As Darkly becomes frustrated by the conflict between his religious past and his attraction to Callie, and faces a series of hallucinations and breakdowns, his inner turmoil intensifies. In a shocking and tragic climax, Darkly's hallucinations lead him to attack Callie and Clay, whom he believes are plotting against him, but Jude intervenes and ultimately saves Callie, who reveals her love for Darkly. The film ends with a sense of loss and new beginnings as a family of circus performers arrives, and Callie agrees to guide them out of the forest.