The Drifter 1988

Julia Robbins [Kim Delaney] is an up-and-coming fashion designer returning to Los Angeles after a sales trip in San Francisco. On the highway, she passes a hitchhiker—a drifter named Trey [Miles O’Keeffe]—and their eyes briefly meet before she keeps moving. At Hillside diner, she notices a quiet, enigmatic man eating alone, and the drifter later enters the scene, exchanging a lingering look with her. When he asks for a ride outside, she declines and drives off, only to discover a flat tire shortly afterward. Trey, who introduces himself by name, fixes the tire, and a tentative decision forms: she agrees to give him a ride.

That night at a motel, she offers him a ride into L.A. in the morning. The rain pounds the windows as Trey asks to sleep in her car, but she leads him into her room. Julia whispers a no words it will be like it never happened line, and they share a charged, passionate night. The next morning she wakes in his arms, and as they dress, Trey notices an old gold pocket watch she wears. She explains it was a gift from her grandfather and that it will protect her through life. They drive back to Los Angeles, and Trey drops Julia off at Oki Dog in West Hollywood. She makes it clear she wants to leave things as a one-night stand, and she hands Trey the pocket watch as a souvenir before driving away.

Back at her apartment, Julia’s boyfriend Arthur waits inside, along with her cat Steve. Unaware of the prior night’s affair, they share intimacy. The following day, Julia’s good friend Matty visits and reveals she is pregnant and planning a wedding; the two celebrate a hopeful moment together. That night, a mysterious call from Trey unsettles Julia. He wants to see her, but she refuses, insisting she can wait. The next day, Trey again presses to meet at Oki Dog, and Julia tries to end things, telling him to stop calling. She notices a suspicious man in a car watching her as she leaves.

Guilt gnaws at Julia, and she confesses the situation to Matty, who asks what Trey is really like. Julia admits he’s different and could be dangerous. Trey ultimately confronts Julia in her office, asking to be with her again in front of coworkers, a moment that leaves her nauseated and shaken. Arthur grows wary as well, and the tension between Julia and her partner begins to strain their relationship.

Julia tries to handle the situation by calling the police, but fear keeps her from reporting what’s happening. Arthur’s suspicions grow when Julia stops wearing her pocket watch, and he enlists a private investigator who turns out to be the same enigmatic man from the diner who had followed Julia to Oki Dog. He drops cryptic hints about killing women and leaves the couple on edge.

A return to normalcy proves impossible. After a routine grocery run, Julia discovers a flat tire with a knife embedded in it. She turns to private investigator Morrison [Larry Brand] for help, recounting her story and the dangerous entanglement she’s found herself in. A fragile, barricaded sense of safety crumbles when Julia spends the night at Arthur’s house, though she remains unaware that Arthur already knows about the affair.

Matty calls again, revealing that her relationship with her boyfriend isn’t ready for marriage or a baby, and Julia urges her friend to wait it out. The moment shatters when Matty is found dead in her bed, brutally murdered. Frantically, Julia races back to Morrison, pleading for protection as she realizes the danger surrounding her.

Arthur discovers the truth and reluctantly forgives Julia, but the night’s turmoil escalates into a brutal confrontation. No sooner has the couple settled into a fragile peace than a lurid, violent sequence erupts: the wandering detective—still lurking in the shadows—grabs Julia, binds her hands, and drags her toward Arthur’s bed, intent on erasing evidence and silencing the truth. He kills Matty to cover his tracks and kills Arthur to prevent exposure. The attack escalates as the detective taunts Julia, condemning her for her infidelity while attempting to kill her.

A sudden, fierce struggle ensues: Julia fractures free, grasps a revolver, and fights back as the detective guns down an intruder who had entered. Morrison arrives to a chaotic scene, kicking in the door with gun drawn. He aims at Trey, but Julia pleads for mercy. A shot rings out, and Morrison has killed the detective just as he readies another lethal move, saving Julia at the last moment.

With the immediate danger ended, Trey rises to comfort Julia. She reveals that the pocket watch she gave him saved his life—he wore it when the detective attempted to kill him, and it deflected the bullet. In a quiet, hopeful moment, they recognize a shared courage and a promise of protection. The film closes on a warm, romantic turn: Julia and Trey, together on a sunlit beach with her cat at their feet, looking toward a future where they can finally feel safe and loved.