Written & directed by Shane Atkinson, “LaRoy, Texas” is a new crime thriller made in the style of the Coen brothers. It follows a meek grocery shop manager from LaRoy who is depressed due to the sorry state of his life. When he is about to take his life, he is mistaken for a hired gun. Because of this confusion, he falls into a maze of situations that seem to have no end. The director tells this narrative in a black comedic style, which makes it a dark and absurd ride filled with surprises. The cast includes John Magaro (Past Lives), Steve Zahn (The White Lotus), Dylan Baker (Happiness), Megan Stevenson, and Matthew Del Negro in the central roles.
Spoilers Ahead
LaRoy, Texas (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What is ‘LaRoy, Texas’ about?
Shane Atkinson’s “LaRoy, Texas” follows Ray, who co-owns a grocery shop with his brother, Junior. Because of the poor state of affairs, he becomes suicidal. But life suddenly gives him an opportunity to be a contract killer. This coincidence takes him on a wild ride full of surprises. A mix of black comedy and crime thriller, this film has done rounds of multiple film festivals, including Tribeca.
What happens in ‘LaRoy, Texas’?
“LaRoy, Texas” begins with a strange scene in the middle of nowhere. A truck breaks down, leaving its driver stranded. He sees a car passing by and asks for a ride. After allowing him in, the car driver starts having a chat with the hitchhiker. They both have a seed of doubt about each other. During their small talk, the driver starts building on the same. He proposes a scenario where he purposefully damages the man’s truck so that he can kill him. Then, he mentions some details specific to the hitchhiker – his wife wants to get a divorce, and it is cheaper to kill someone than hire a divorce lawyer.
The hitchhiker senses the danger and asks to get out. Soon after, the driver kills him. Right after, he receives a call for his next target in LaRoy, Texas. Meanwhile, in LaRoy, Ray (John Magaro) meets Skip (Steve Zahn) in a diner. He gets confused as to why his brother’s friend suddenly wants to meet him after years. Skip reveals the details. He shows a photo of Ray’s wife, Stacy-Lynn (Megan Stevenson), outside a motel. It looks like she is having an affair. But Ray did not hire Skip to do this. Skip does this phishing for a gig as a private detective. Alas, despite his wife’s infidelity, Ray doesn’t want to confront her.
Why doesn’t Ray want to confront Stacy-Lynn?
Ray is a meek fella who works at a grocery store his family has run for over four decades. However, Stacy-Lynn doesn’t love or respect him. She treats him like her servant, and he accepts that treatment. After his meeting with Skip, Ray joins Stacy-Lynn for a bank visit. She wants funds to start her own salon. But that’s not possible with Ray’s meager salary. Even the bank isn’t excited by her loan proposal. Stacy-Lynn gets angry at Ray for not helping her make her case. Later that day, they join Ray’s brother, Junior (Matthew Del Negro) and his family for dinner. Over there, even Junior humiliates him. Still, Ray isn’t confident enough to talk back to anyone.
Why does Ray think of killing himself?
After the bank refuses them a loan, Ray asks Junior for financial help to fund Stacy-Lynn’s salon plan. But Junior doesn’t help him. At night, Stacy-Lynn gets dressed up to go out. She tells Ray that she is going out for a movie with a friend. Ray recognizes her lie. He gets tired of humiliation by his brother, his wife, and his staff. That’s why he contemplates suicide. He goes to a gun store to buy a gun. Then, he drives his car into a parking lot to shoot himself. Suddenly, a stranger, Tiller (Brannon Cross), gets in his car and sits next to him. He mistakes Ray for a hired gun and offers wads of cash to get a job done.
Initially, Ray gets scared. But he warms up to the idea of being a killer because he is desperate to earn some respect. The actual contract killer, Harry (Dylan Baker), parks his car next to Ray’s. Ray realizes what’s happening and drives away. Harry calls his boss for details of the person who hired him. Meanwhile, Skip’s car gets towed because some police officers are trying to tease him. He goes to retrieve it. But the registrar expects him to pay a big fine. If that’s not enough, the officers remove his car’s tires. It looks like fate is against him being a private investigator.
Does Ray kill the man he was hired for?
Ray gets into a bar to kill James Barlow (Vic Browder), whom he was hired to kill. Barlow realizes Ray is following him. It makes Ray lose his confidence. He walks out to his car. Barlow punches him in the face. He sees photos of Stacy-Lynn that Skip clicked and asks who hired Ray. In the heat of the moment, Ray shoots Barlow. He drives away and drops Barlow’s body on the road. After cleaning his car, he goes to Junior’s house expecting his help. There, he gets another surprise. Stacy-Lynn is cheating on him with Junior. Junior’s wife, Kayla (Emily Pendergast), knew about it but didn’t take any action.
Meanwhile, Harry learns about the homicide. Even though the job is done, he doesn’t receive any pay. So, he goes on the lookout for who has the cash. On the crime scene, the police officers find a photo of Stacy-Lynn. They consider her a suspect and arrest her the next day. On the night of Barlow’s murder, Tiller breaks open a safe but finds no cash inside. So, the next day, he meets Ray in his shop to confront him. But Ray knows nothing about it. So, he expects to procure it within 24 hours. Predictably, Ray panics and doesn’t know what to do.
How does Ray plan to get out of his problems?
After Tiller’s warning for cash, Ray has another reason to worry about. Skip figures out Ray is behind the recent murder. He makes Ray hire him in exchange for not telling the truth to the police. Together, they go to Barlow’s office to speak with his colleague, Ben Finney (Bob Clendenin), and find some intel on Barlow. Ben leads them to Barlow’s recent client, Adam LeDoux (Brad Leland). Before they go meet Mr LeDoux, Ray learns about Stacy-Lynn’s arrest. He goes to the station to bail her out. Then, they go to LeDoux’s car showroom to speak with him. But the moment LeDoux hears about a ‘blackmail,’ he gets furious.
Moments later, LeDoux explains details about the blackmail. LeDoux says he was having an affair with a stripper, Angie (Galadriel Stineman), who threatened to disclose the affair to his wife if he didn’t pay a huge sum. So, LeDoux decided to come clean to his wife. Still, he decided to pay Angie so his family-friendly reputation wouldn’t be tarnished. Barlow was supposed to give Angie the money. But before that, he was killed (by Ray), and his safe was broken (by Tiller). While that happens, Harry shows up at Tiller’s house, who happens to be Angie’s partner.
What was LeDoux’s actual plan?
After their conversation with LeDoux, Ray & Skip show up at Tiller and Angie’s house. By then, Harry had killed Tiller. Angie reveals another surprise: she never had an affair with LeDoux or even slept with him. He wanted the huge sum. So, he asked Angie to pretend to blackmail him in exchange for 10% of it. But Tiller thought 10% wasn’t enough. So, he hired Harry to kill Barlow so that he could have all the money. Now, Ray wants that money for his troubles. Hearing that, Ray worries for Stacy-Lynn’s life because her photo was next to dead Barlow.
By then, Stacy-Lynn found wads of cash in her house. She steals the money and meets Junior. Ray returns home but doesn’t find Stacy-Lynn. Skip tries to make him leave her because she has been unfaithful. But Ray still stays loyal to her. Later, at the bar, they meet two men who take them to meet Mrs Midge LeDoux (Darcy Shean). She says she got those two men to break into Barlow’s safe. Although she inherited a lot from her parents, her husband wasn’t mindful about spending it. That is why she concocted the whole plan. But she doesn’t know where the money is either.
LaRoy, Texas (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Who has the money from Barlow’s safe?
After their meeting with Mrs LeDoux, Ray and Skip stop at a bar. He realizes that the cars get towed away if parked overnight. So, they go find Barlow’s car. Skip breaks its window and finds a suitcase full of cash. Right after, Ray points a gun at him. He thinks if he has all the money, Stacy-Lynn will agree to run away with him. Skip tries to talk some sense into him. Ray considers himself lucky that someone like her chose him. Skip makes him think why she did that. Still, Ray decides to trust her.
After finding Barlow’s money, Ray calls Stacy-Lynn and says that he has money for her salon. At the time, she was in bed with Junior. She tells Ray to come meet her back home. Once Ray walks in, he sees Junior with her. The next moment, the cops show up at their doorstep. Ray realizes that Stacy-Lynn betrayed him. Even then, he doesn’t get upset at her. Meanwhile, Harry hears about a man arrested for robbery. He finds the police car and shoots them dead. Ray manages to break out free. He shows up at Junior’s house to learn another surprise: Junior and Stacy-Lynn are running away as a couple.
What happens to Stacy-Lynn in the end?
Stacy-Lynn left her home with Junior and all the stolen money. Like Ray, Kayla & her kids are left behind. At Kayla’s house, Ray receives a call from Skip. Harry speaks on the other side. He asks Ray for money to keep Skip alive. So, Ray drives away to find Stacy-Lynn and retrieve the suitcase filled with cash. Outside a motel, he finds Junior’s huge boat. He walks into their room, goes to the bathroom, and shoots Junior. But he doesn’t kill Stacy-Lynn. He lets her walk out with her suitcase and the crown that she won when she was a young pageant.
What happens to Ray in the end?
After Stacy-Lynn leaves, Ray walks out with the suitcase of money to give it to Harry. He makes sure that Skip is alive but doesn’t give the suitcase to Harry. So, Harry shoots Ray. After that, Harry walks inside the motel and sees half-dead Junior in the bathrub. So, he kills Junior. Then, he & Ray shoot each other and end up dead. Meanwhile, Skip drives out of town with all the money. Along the way, he sees Stacy-Lynn walking, wearing a crown.. He offers her a ride. However, Ray dies near the motel next to Junior’s dead body. So, in the end, no one got the things they desired or the life they deserved. Everyone tried to make peace with what they were fated for.
