John M Patrick Bücher

An elderly couple, Wilbur and Ellie Weiss, who escaped Nazi concentration camps during World War II, tragically died in a car accident on a snowy New Year's Eve in 1980. Six months later, the couple responsible for the accident, Andy and Marisa Janzen, purchased the Weiss' Victorian home after relocating from Joplin, Missouri, to Charleston, Missouri, where Andy took a job as a hospital administrator. Wilbur, with Ellie’s encouragement, devises various schemes to scare the Janzen family away from their new home. This also involves the Pritchard family—Hank, Cindy, Mary, and Joseph—who were in the car with Andy when the accident occurred. Despite Ellie’s disapproval, Wilbur's plans put the children from both families at risk, a promise he struggles to uphold. After a tragic incident involving the Janzen's friends, Hank and Cindy, Andy and Marisa resolve to remain in their home, prompting Wilbur to escalate his efforts to force them out through increasingly extreme measures. The tension between the past and present looms large as Wilbur grapples with his intentions and the innocence of the children caught in the crossfire.