Sleepwalking (2008)

Tara Reedy and her reckless mother Joleen have been evicted from the house where they were staying with Joleen’s latest boyfriend, who was arrested for growing marijuana. Tara is forced to follow Joleen as she begs her younger brother, James, to take them in. Shortly after moving into James’ apartment, Joleen runs off with a truck driver, leaving Tara with her uncle, who works with a road-building crew. After missing too many days of work, he is fired, and ends up crashing in the basement of his married best friend, Randall, after Tara has been sent to a foster home. Longing to be reunited with Tara, James goes to visit her, and she tells him she’s being bullied in the foster home and asks him to take her away. James drives Tara to his childhood home, which he and Joleen had fled from many years earlier.

James and Tara agree to pose as father and daughter during the road trip, and begin to develop a familial bond. Upon arriving at the Reedy homestead, which has now become a run-down cattle and horse farm, they are immediately put to work as unpaid labor by the head of the household, Mr. Reedy. Mr. Reedy treats Tara with contempt, physically abusing her due to her inexperience with farming. James attempts to stand up to his father, but is quickly rebuked and threatened with a shovel. After silencing his son, Mr. Reedy continues to abuse Tara, until James snaps and beats his father to death with the shovel, exacting revenge for the years of abuse he and Joleen had previously suffered. James then drives Tara to Westmoreland, where Joleen is waiting at the police station.