NIGHTMARE COME TRUE, A (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama film follows a young nurse as she attempts to uncover the truth of her mother's sudden disappearance. The story begins in New Jersey as Sarah Zarn tells Detective Ron Shaye about the morning she awoke to find her apartment filled with smoke, thanks to a fire on the floor below. Later, she heads to work and spots her mother Lily driving past her, though her mother does not acknowledge her. She arrives at her parents' home, having requested to stay there until her apartment is repaired, and she observes the uncomfortable tension between her parents and overhears their argument late at night. In the morning, Sarah attempts to keep the peace as her parents trade insults, and Lily comes to visit Sarah at work and inexplicably asks for her forgiveness before leaving. Sarah watches her boyfriend Paul perform with his band, and she later awakens from strange, violent dreams about her mother to find that Paul has not yet returned home. When she arrives at her parents', Don states that Lily has abruptly packed her bags and left without further explanation. Shocked, Sarah contacts the police, though Shaye points out that there is no sign of foul play, and Paul assures her that Lily is likely fine.
Sarah finds her mother's pearl barrette near Paul's home, but Lily's friend Ellen then reveals that she received a New York postcard from Lily saying that she "finally did it" and ended her unhappy marriage. Shaye arrives at the Zarn home to question Don, who assures him that his fights with Lily never turned violent, but asserts that Lily is likely not planning to return. Sarah's younger brother Steven observes that Don is acting far more relaxed and kindly than usual, and Sarah, upset that her mother has not yet contacted her personally, then finds that Lily withdrew $10,000 from her bank account shortly before departing. Ellen receives another postcard from a seemingly cheerful Lily, though Sarah's disturbing dreams continue, and when she unearths her mother's diary, she is stunned to find that Lily was having an affair. Her best friend Gretchen advises her not to share her unpleasant discovery with Don, though Paul brushes off the affair as unimportant and urges Sarah to "let it go," suggesting that she is needlessly obsessed with her mother's choice.
Sarah witnesses the tail end of an aborted phone call between Lily and Don and, desperate for the truth, she returns to the diary to learn more about the affair. Lily describes her secret, passionate encounters with "him," and when she mentions that she lost her barrette during one such moment, Sarah is horrified to realize that her mother's lover was none other than her own boyfriend, Paul. Disgusted, she flees her parents' home and rails at Paul for his betrayal, and she later moves in with Gretchen and refuses to see her cheating ex for several weeks. She tells Shaye about Paul's strange absence on the night of Lily's disappearance as well as the missing $10,000, guessing that there is a connection, and she eventually returns to Don's home. Sarah finds that Lily has sent her a package containing a note of apology, and Don admits that he was outraged upon learning of the affair but opted not to revenge himself on Lily or Paul. Sarah, still plagued by the dreams, maintains that her mother is somehow hurt and in need of help, but Don tells her that it is he and Steven who truly need her now.
Gretchen sets Sarah up with an attractive date, Peter Henrickson, though Sarah quickly turns the conversation to her mother's case upon learning that he is a detective. Sarah finds that her mother's credit card has been used recently, and when Shaye brings to see Lily's bloodstained car at an impound lot and adds that Paul made a $7,000 bank deposit, Sarah concludes that Paul has harmed her mother. Paul arrives at the house and desperately tries to explain, claiming that Lily gave him the money for a music studio and nothing more, but he ends up in a fight with an angry Steven. Sarah later finds blank New York postcards in her father's drawers, and Peter points her in the direction of a handwriting expert, who promises to compare Ellen's postcards to Lily's diary. Peter, unsure if Sarah is genuinely interested in him or merely in his connections, gently points out that everyone "has the right to disappear" if they choose to, but Sarah remains convinced that something dire has happened. Paul again swears that he has not harmed Lily, and Steven seems prepared to move on with their lives when Don asks his children to "forgive the past." Shaye explains that the blood in the car is not Lily's, but the graphologist then reports that the postcards are indeed very good forgeries, seemingly confirming Sarah's suspicions.
Sarah tries to enjoy a real date with Peter, but when Don appears as Lily's attacker in yet another dream, she waits until her father and brother have left and then searches the basement for clues. She finds a secure freezer unit, and when she manages to break its padlock, she is devastated to find Lily's frozen body within, proving her dreams correct. Don arrives and swears that he killed her only accidentally when their fight "escalated," though Sarah furiously points out that he went to great lengths to cover up his crime, and he gently requests that they "shut the door on this." Peter, however, arrives in search of Sarah and quickly arrests Don, and Don calmly admits his actions to Shaye. Sometime later, Paul visits Sarah and sadly observes that she is now dating Peter. He apologizes for his part in the tragedy, though Sarah assures him that the affair was not the sole cause of her parents' fatal fight, and he returns the $7,000 in an act of contrition. When Peter asks, Sarah describes him only as "someone she used to know." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: February 12, 1997 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:32:33
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:87069
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Missing persons; Dreams
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1997
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ronnie D. Clemmer … Executive Producer
- Bill Pace … Executive Producer
- Richard P. Kughn … Executive Producer
- Joseph Nasser … Executive Producer
- Sharon Cicero … Co-Executive Producer
- William Shippey … Producer
- Christopher Leitch … Director
- Gerald DiPego … Writer
- Nevin Schreiner … Writer
- Jeff Eden Fair … Music by
- Starr Parodi … Music by
- Gerald McRaney … Cast, Don Zarn
- Katy Boyer … Cast, Sarah Zarn
- Joel Bissonnette … Cast, Paul Chaney
- Jeremy Renner … Cast, Steven Zarn
- Dann Florek … Cast, Detective Ron Shaye
- Judith Scott … Cast, Gretchen
- Mark Kiely … Cast, Detective Peter Henrickson
- Shelley Fabares … Cast, Lily Zarn
- Mark Benninghofen … Cast, David
- Claire Malis Calloway … Cast, Ellen
- Jocko Marcellino … Cast, Holdreith
- Steven Marcus Gibbs … Cast, Alan
- David H. Bickford … Cast, Anesthesiologist
- Colette O'Connell … Cast, Resident
- Rick Fitts … Cast, Chief Surgeon