Roofman (2025) is inspired by the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a real-life criminal best known for his unusual method of breaking into McDonald’s restaurants—through the roof. Unlike most films about criminals, Roofman strikes a surprisingly empathetic tone, as many of Jeffrey’s real-life victims have spoken of him with unexpected fondness. That moral ambiguity is what makes the film stand out from conventional true-crime stories.
After a string of McDonald’s robberies, Jeffrey is eventually captured and sent to prison. But his ingenuity doesn’t end there—he stages a daring escape and hides out for months inside a Toys “R” Us store without anyone realizing it. During his secret life in the shadows, he falls in love with a woman named Leigh, attempting to balance affection and anonymity. Yet, as his two worlds begin to collide, Jeffrey’s elaborate double life starts to unravel, leading inevitably to his downfall.
This article contains spoilers.
Roofman(2025) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film opens with a man climbing into a McDonald’s store from the rooftop. From the front door, Manager Duane walks in with Jade and Joslyn, giving them their daily tasks. Suddenly, a masked man, Jeffrey, walks in with a rifle, asks the employees to grab their coats, and tells them to walk into the freezer. Because Duane didn’t have his jacket, Jeffrey offered Duane his.
After that, Jeffrey steals money from the register. After Jeffrey completes his military service, he doesn’t fit in anywhere, nor does he know what to do in life. Two years before this incident, Jeffrey started to make one bad choice after another. Jeffrey is divorced with three kids. The oldest kid, Becky, wants a bike for her birthday, but Jeffrey can’t afford it. Later that day, Jeffrey’s friend Steve makes Jeffrey realise his superpower. That is, Jeffrey is great with observation, things others don’t notice, Jeffrey does.
After leaving Becky with her mother, Jeffrey observes how McDonald’s works. At this time, Jeffrey thinks about how many McDonald’s restaurants would one need to rob to be able to buy a good house and win over their family. The answer is 45 McDonald’s. It’s Becky’s birthday, and Steve notices a news story about a man stealing from a McDonald’s store. So, Steve starts to get suspicious. This birthday, Jeffrey gave Becky a bike as a present. Just as the garage door opens, cops are waiting to arrest Jeffrey. Jeffrey runs but is caught. At court, Jeffrey is sentenced to 45 years in prison. From prison, Jeffrey calls to talk to Becky and learns his ex-wife is already dating a man named Gary. Furthermore, Becky is not allowed to speak to Jeffrey anymore.
How does Jeffrey escape prison, and where does he go?
In prison, Jeffrey realises the best way out of prison is through the people. One must win over everyone’s trust so they let their guard down. Soon, Jeffrey helps out a truck driver who carries things in and out of prison. The plan to escape from prison commences. Before fleeing, Jeffrey makes clothes and redesigns a hat to use when he leaves.
One day, the truck driver arrives to carry some things out of prison. When the truck driver is not looking, Jeffrey gets under the truck and enters the gap that is there below the truck. Outside, just when the truck driver stops to urinate, Jeffrey escapes into the woods. There, Jeffrey changes into the attire he made in prison. Immediately, Jeffrey hitchhikes to go to his ex-wife’s house. There, Jeffrey sees Becky ride her bike, and Jeffrey is moved to tears.
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A while later, Jeffrey calls Steve asking for fake passports to Brazil or Venezuela. However, Steve asks Jeffrey to stay low for a month. At that time, Jeffrey spots police cars, so he runs into a Toys ‘R’ Us. It’s almost closing time, so Jeffrey enters the washroom. There, Jeffrey climbs onto the roof just before the cops come in. For now, Jeffrey is safe because the cop has left. From above, Jeffrey has access to the manager’s office. Once the store is shut, Jeffrey gets down to the manager’s office.
After seeing the CCTV footage to check where the cameras are in the store, Jeffrey sneaks into the aisles to steal some chocolates. Later, Jeffrey watches the news, which is about his escape. The next night, Jeffrey finds the CCTV manual, so he uses the instructions to stop the cameras from recording. Now, Jeffrey is free to roam around the store.
How do Jeffrey and Leigh meet?
According to Jeffrey, people have short attention spans, so soon they’ll forget about him. Furthermore, the best place to hide is in plain sight, as no one will be looking. In the store, where the bikes are displayed, there is a huge cylindrical framework with a hollow gap in the middle. So, Jeffrey steals mattresses, tiny monitors, toys, and mats and makes it his temporary house. Unlike others, Jeffrey comes alive only at night. Soon, Jeffrey sets up his own cameras and listens in on everything that is happening.
Through that process, Jeffrey learns that the manager Mitch is a cold-hearted man. He is not empathetic towards the employee Leigh, as she wants alternate weekends off. So, Jeffrey uses Mitch’s computer to change the schedule that night. By now, Jeffrey has found a way to get in and out of Toys ‘R’ Us. After a month, Jeffrey calls Steve to learn from Steve’s girlfriend that Steve won’t be in town until December.
While listening to conversations, Jeffrey learns about Leigh’s church having a toy drive for kids. However, Mitch is unwilling to donate. So, Jeffrey steals toys and visits the church. There, Jeffrey is dragged inside to attend the sermon. Later, Jeffrey introduces himself as John Zorin to whoever he meets. The story is that John is working for the government (on undercover work), so he cannot reveal much about his life.
Soon, Eileen invites Jeffrey/John for a singles dinner. Taking the chance, Jeffrey asks Leigh to join the group as well. Jeffrey pawns some toys to groom himself and visit a dentist. After the singles event, Leigh asks Jeffrey on a date. On their first date, Jeffrey almost gets caught as Leigh mentions having an ex-husband who was also called Jeffrey.
What happens at Thanksgiving?
However, the date went well. Leigh invites Jeffrey home, and they sleep together. As they talk, Jeffrey says he loves kids and would love to meet Leigh’s kids, Lindsay and Dee. They have a pizza party with the kids. It is easy to win over Dee, but Lindsay is cold towards Jeffrey. Eventually, Jeffrey starts attending church with Leigh’s family. After having such a good time, Jeffrey begins to worry as he knows that if he stays in one place for too long, someone would recognise him. So, Jeffrey asks Leigh if she would move out of the state.
However, Leigh was unwilling. One night, Jeffrey hangs his clothes on the aisles of the store and takes a shower in the washroom. Suddenly, Mitch comes to the store. Panicked, a naked Jeffrey takes his clothes, a fan kept for drying, and is about to go into his temporary home when Mitch comes out of his office.
Jeffrey uses the fan to hide his face, and soon Jeffrey runs out the door, pressing the alarm as Mitch calls the cops. Before Mitch comes back to the store, Jeffrey hides in his hideout. The cops assume that Jeffrey left from where the alarm rang. Now, the cops tell Mitch that the CCTV cameras are not recording. Additionally, the cops ask Mitch to increase security immediately. So, Mitch reveals that thousands of dollars’ worth of toys are missing from the store. During Thanksgiving in church, Lindsay throws a fit, asking Leigh if sex with Jeffrey is worth it. At home the next day, Jeffrey tries to patch things up between Leigh and Lindsay. Things get worse. So Jeffrey takes the family to test drive a beater.
How does Jeffrey rob Toys ‘R’ Us?
Jeffrey drives the car like stunt men do, which fascinates the girls but annoys Leigh. One reason Leigh and Lindsay are fighting is that Lindsay does not want to drive a manual car, so Leigh is unwilling to drive Lindsay around. Jeffrey gives the keys to Lindsay, as it is an automatic car. For the first time, Lindsay drives the car, making everyone happy.
After that, Jeffrey drives to meet Steve to get his papers. Now, Steve says he will need 50 grand to get everything sorted, as Steve can see right through Jeffrey, and Steve knows Jeffrey is hooking up with someone. That night, Jeffrey breaks into a weapons store, steals a mask, a vest, a gun, and bullets. After that, Jeffrey observes when Mitch hands over the cash accumulated over the week to the security guard.
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One other thing Jeffrey takes care of is to change Leigh’s shift timings so she can stay with her family on Christmas. A day before Christmas, Jeffrey picks up Lindsay from school, taking all the Christmas supplies. When Leigh comes home, she is surprised to see the tree and décor. They go to church together, where Jeffrey is emotionally vulnerable.
That night, when the security arrives to collect cash, Jeffrey comes out with his mask and gun, asking everyone to follow his instructions. When the security does not listen, Jeffrey hits him. After that, Jeffrey ensures Mitch ties everyone’s hands. Now, Jeffrey asks Mitch to take him to the safe where the top bundle is fake, which, if it is open for a specific period of time, blasts with pepper spray. Still, Jeffrey makes Mitch open it, and the bundle explodes. Now, Mitch is unable to see.
Roofman (2025) Movie Ending Explained:
Outside, Ottis, an employee, emotionally troubles Jeffrey, saying Mitch and the security need an ambulance. As Jeffrey calls 911, Leigh comes to the store. Briefly, they lock eyes before Leigh runs away from the store. Immediately, Jeffrey runs to meet Steve to give him the money and collect his documents. It’s Christmas the next day, and Jeffrey wants to spend time with Leigh, so he asks Steve if Jeffrey can postpone leaving the state.
However, Steve asks Jeffrey to leave the next day, as it is Jeffrey’s last chance. Later, Jeffrey burns down the dentist’s office to wipe away his dental records. With a heavy heart, Jeffrey drives away from the state when he gets a call from Leigh asking if Jeffrey will be joining the family for Christmas dinner. Unable to refuse, Jeffrey agrees. He buys presents and balloons for the girls and knocks on the door. The cops arrive and arrest Jeffrey. From afar, Leigh hears about Jeffrey’s arrest on the police radio and weeps.
The court added 384 months to Jeffrey’s sentence. In prison, Jeffrey realises his family did not want things from him, but just Jeffrey’s time. Now, Jeffrey is in contact with Becky on calls. During a sharing circle in prison, one of the inmates asks Jeffrey if he met Leigh again. We see that Leigh did visit Jeffrey in prison and they apologised to each other. The reason Leigh apologises is that she couldn’t protect Jeffrey. At the same time, Leigh was mad that Jeffrey hurt her daughters. They hug it out in the end. The film ends with some real-life clips and updates. Jeffrey Manchester attempted to escape prison twice- in 2009 and 2017. Leigh has remarried and recently visited Jeffrey for the first time in more than a decade.
Jeffrey will be eligible for parole in 2036. Jeffrey currently works as a prison librarian and insists he does not have any plans to escape. In the real-life interviews, most people say nice things about Jeffrey. This is a classic example of capitalism, valuing materialistic things over people themselves, which led Jeffrey to commit those crimes in the first place.
The cops must have found Leigh, as Jeffrey had pictures of Leigh’s family and his own kids stuck in his hideout in the Toys ‘R’ Us store. In the end, the cops use Leigh to get to Jeffrey. In real life, Leigh did not work at Toys ‘R’ Us but crossed paths elsewhere. In real life, Jeffrey did rob Toys ‘R’ Us, but maybe not to get some false documents, as Steve is a character based on someone Jeffrey knew, but we don’t know much about the person. However, it is unclear why Jeffrey robbed a store again. The last part of the film, where Leigh hears about Jeffrey’s arrest on the cop radio, is also true.
