Plot Synopsis

Based on the short story by Shirley Jackson. Haunted by nightmares, a young man returns to the small Maine town of his birth to not only honor his dying father's request to spread his ashes, but to uncover the circumstances of his mother's death. He finds his search stonewalled by edgy, furtive townspeople who are anxious to get him to leave. He soon uncovers an annual ritual where everyone draws lots and the person who loses is then stoned to death by the compliant community. When he tells of this event to outside authorities, they investigate, but there is no trace of a crime and he is deemed insane.