Lower Level 1991

Frustrated by her inattentive yuppie boyfriend, architect Hillary White Elizabeth Gracen dreams of a white knight, sheltering those fantasies in journals she keeps hidden in her Figueroa Plaza office. The desire for romance and excitement runs alongside the grind of everyday work, and Hillary sometimes wonders if love will ever arrive in a way that feels magical rather than ordinary.

One night, as Hillary and a visiting Craig Fulson attempt to leave, they become trapped in a parking garage, a predicament engineered by Sam, a security guard whose fixation on Hillary has dark, dangerous edges. Sam’s plan unfolds with chilling calm: he quietly lays the groundwork to remove obstacles in his path. He covertly makes Craig fall down an elevator shaft, an accident that Hillary misses entirely in the confusion of the moment as the lifts are restarted and the night unfolds with awkward, unsettling tension.

Sam’s obsession drives him to press his advantage, and he returns to pursue Hillary with a disturbing blend of charm and menace. He tries to woo her even as the truth of his fixation taints every interaction. When Hillary discovers that Sam has been reading her private diaries, she storms off in a mix of anger and fear. The danger escalates quickly as a pair of alarm servicemen arrive to inspect a fire alarm Hillary had set off earlier. The situation spirals when Sam shoots them in front of Hillary, a brutal display that leaves her reeling and fearful for what comes next.

Hillary is eventually captured and confined in a hidden lounge that houses a shrine devoted to her, a grim testament to Sam’s fixation. He then moves to conceal the bodies of the two servicemen, all the while realizing—though reluctantly—that Craig is alive and in pursuit, a fact that raises the stakes for Hillary’s chances to escape.

The tension intensifies as Sam incapacitates Craig with a trap, yet cannot kill him outright because he runs out of bullets. With Craig still a potential ally or obstacle, Sam sets his sights back on Hillary. She leverages the moment to turn the scales: she seduces Sam, uses his distraction to stab him in the back with a shard of glass, and seizes the opportunity to slip away and reunite with Craig.

The duo’s attempt to flee from the sealed building leads them to a storage-area tunnel that is unexpectedly blocked. They must improvise as they bait Sam into a trap that finally leaves him hanging upside-down from an elevator—a grim echo of his initial power play.

Hillary then makes a daring break through the front doors using a piece of construction equipment she unearthed. Sam breaks free and forces a final confrontation on the roof, where he announces over the PA that he will hunt down and kill the wounded Craig if Hillary leaves. At the rooftop rendezvous, a desperate Sam handcuffs himself to Hillary and menacingly threatens to jump. Craig appears, professes both love and a willingness to die for Hillary, and his true care for her finally reveals the hollowness of Sam’s fixation. The moment of revelation shifts the balance, and Sam recognizes that he is unworthy of Hillary’s affections. After James Bond-style sacrifice and a final act of release, Sam removes their shackles and leaps to his death, ending the night of danger and desire with a deadly, haunting quiet.