Deadlock 1970

In a desert landscape near the California–Mexico border, a heat-battered young man known as Kid drags a metal suitcase filled with money, a machine gun, and a stubborn arm wound. He collapses, and his path crosses with Charles Dump, a former supervisor now living in a desolate mining town. Dump first seizes the suitcase and leaves him for dead, but when he returns—either to finish the job or to save him—the desperate man forces him at gunpoint to drive him to safety.

Dump’s quiet compound is populated by Corinna and her mute daughter Jessy, who live with him in a ruined, lonely outpost. Corinna and Jessy seem to be the little family Dump has built in the wasteland. Dump quickly figures out that Kid has robbed the nearby town’s bank and chose to walk the desert rather than hop a train to lie low. He refuses to remove the bullet from Kid’s arm, hoping the infection will do its work, but Jessy’s quiet urging finally convinces him to pull it out, letting the wounded man begin to heal. Kid warns that his partner, Mr. Sunshine, will come to collect the money, yet Dump remains unfazed by the threat.

When Sunshine arrives, Dump attempts a bluff, even briefly disarming his gun and firing at him—only to realize it’s unloaded. The trio engage in a tense game of wits, with Dump sowing doubt between the longtime partners, while Kid claims that when he tried to escape on a train, he was shot by an unknown party. The power dynamics shift and shift again as the three men maneuver for control of the loot.

Dump makes a bold attempt to flee at dawn with the money, but a confrontation interrupts him. He later tries to leave town on a freight train, only to be beaten back by a security bull. The chase resumes on the desert roads, and Sunshine eventually runs Dump down, ending the former supervisor’s part in the danger.

Back at camp that night, Kid and Sunshine settle the fate of the money, and Kid sleeps with Jessy. The next day, the two men depart, with Jessy following in hopes of joining them. As Kid attempts to give her a gift, he notices Sunshine cocking a gun and realizes he’s being double-crossed. Kid and Jessy are abandoned, and Sunshine discards one of their guns, telling Kid he can use it on himself.

Driving farther into the emptiness, Sunshine opens the metal case only to discover it weighed down with bricks and a note that reads, > Sorry old man. He turns back toward the camp, slapping Kid and demanding to know where the money is, then shoots both Jessy and Corinna in cold spite. Kid, however, seizes the moment and turns the tables, ending Sunshine’s life. Left alone in the vast nothingness, Kid walks away, the fate of the money left unresolved and open to interpretation.