The Contractor 2013

The film opens with a suspect murderer being apprehended by the police, insisting he is innocent and that his only aim was to protect his girlfriend, but the authorities remain unconvinced.

Three years later, in December in Malibu, Elizabeth “Liz” Chase is busy renovating her family’s apartment for a charity event looming in two weeks while also looking after her teenage daughter Mckenzie Chase. Her husband, a lawyer, Paul Chase, decides to hire a contractor to ease the workload. The search initially stalls until an introduction to Desert Sun Contracting leads them to a shady contractor, Javier Reyes, who has been secretly surveilling the family, snapping photos and tapping their calls. Reyes begins to plant incriminating pieces of evidence to frame Paul for infidelity, including a doctored restaurant receipt. When Liz grows suspicious, she asks Paul to ask Reyes to leave. Reyes departs with a bitter vow to return.

A new contractor is eventually hired, but Reyes persists in watching the Chases from a distance. Liz’s suspicion deepens after Reyes plants edited phone records that imply Paul’s unfaithfulness. In the course of her investigation, she uncovers a troubling truth: Jorge Reyes, the real name of Javier Reyes, had previously been arrested for contempt of court. It is revealed that Reyes’s son, Omar Reyes, was the prosecuted murderer who died in a prison mass assault. Reyes is intent on avenging his son by targeting Paul, who was part of the prosecution team for Omar’s trial.

Liz shares her findings with Paul, and he vows to stay vigilant. He even enlists his rough-edged acquaintances to eliminate Reyes, but the plan fails; Reyes overpowers them and escapes, his eye bruised. He then sends Liz a photo of Paul’s secretary rubbing her neck, which convinces Liz that Paul is involved with someone else. Distraught, she confronts Paul, who vehemently denies any wrongdoing. The couple’s argument drives Liz to demand that Paul leave their home.

The danger escalates when Reyes kidnaps Mckenzie Chase, who had lied about going to a friend’s party but was actually with her boyfriend, Chris. With McKenzie’s phone left in Chris’s car, they lose contact. Liz discovers that McKenzie was never at the party. Reyes appears outside Liz’s door, holding McKenzie at gunpoint. He lures Paul back to the house and attacks him, but Paul manages to grab Reyes’s gun, creating a diversion that lets the mother and daughter slip away. They hide in a stable, and Liz knocks Reyes unconscious for a time with a large spade.

Their game of hide-and-seek resumes as Reyes tracks them down again, leading to a brutal struggle. In a flurry, Liz finally seizes the firearm and shoots Reyes, killing him.

With danger behind them, the Chases resolve to start anew by giving up their property to a friend and moving on. Liz is later invited to attend the grand opening of the Elizabeth Chase Pediatric Respiratory Center, a vast new facility built in her name.