Successful Savannah lawyer, Rick Magruder, (Kenneth Branagh) becomes obsessed with a mysterious, seductive waitress, Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz) who is being stalked by her fundamentalist father, Dixon Doss (Robert Duvall). When Magruder tries to protect Mallory, he is drawn into a web of deceit and danger, his life falling apart as he peels away the layers of intrigue and mystery that surround her.