ARMED:STAY

Synopsis

JOY, 35, hasn't been out of her bedroom in months, not since her husband died in Afghanistan. Her father-in-law JAVIER has become a parent to Joy's children, OSCAR, 12, who struggles with his weight, bullies and Autism, and EVE, 15 going on 25, who wears too much makeup and has gone too far with her older boyfriend Tyson. This day Javier is hit with news that his Leukemia has returned. Home alone in bed, Joy is wakened by VOLT, 29, wildly brandishing a .22 pistol stolen in a burglary the night before when he exchanged fire with a cop. Volt forces Joy, a former nurse, to get out of bed and bandage his wound. It's obvious to Joy what he's really after, Oxy. A struggle ensues between them when Volt plays with the American Flag memorial box on Joy's mantel. She makes it to the front door, but can't do it. Panic attack. She's been suffering from their debilitating effects for months now. They come to an understanding: Volt won't harm anyone or touch the flag if he can hideout 'til dark. Javier returns from his doctor’s and lets slip that he has pain pills. They watch Volt meticulously get "right.” The day progresses, as we learn more about both Volt and Joy and what makes them tick, each in their own peculiar way. Oscar returns home from a day of being bullied, and he and Volt hit it off. Volt compliments the boy on his excellent drawing skills and the sketch Oscar's drawn of him. Joy didn’t know about Oscar’s talent, having been invisible in the kid’s life over the past several months. When Javier surprises Volt and disarms him, Volt baits the old man, virtually begging him to pull the trigger, but Javier can’t do it, and Volt retakes control. Eve leaves a Women's Clinic without seeing the doctor, gets caught in a rainstorm and is driven home by a cop. A consummate liar, Volt wins her over and she conspiratorially asks him to take her with him to Mexico. Jealous of Volt's attention to Eve, Oscar tries to climb out his bedroom window with a sketch of Volt's face, but gets stuck. Joy, watching her daughter try to close the deal with Volt, realizes her absence from her kids' lives has taken a sad toll.

Volt seems changed, more despondent, desperate, when he finds out that the cop he winged the night before died of a massive heart attack on the way to the hospital. Dark, finally. Volt surprises them all when he says he needs a driver, Javier, to drop him off some 20 miles away. Joy protests vehemently. Not part of the deal. But the old man agrees and readies the car. When Volt exits, Joy goes directly to the box on the mantel, opens it, removes Joey's revolver hidden in the flag, finds the courage to fight off a building panic attack, steps outside for the first time in months, and stops Volt, but not before he reveals himself to her in unexpected ways. She has protected her family and become the mother they've been missing for far too long.