I Melt with You

I Melt with You is a 2011 American arthouse drama thriller film directed by Mark Pellington. It completed filming in September 2010. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. The film was met with mixed reviews, but has since gained a cult following. Plot Friends Ron, Jonathan, Richard and Tim, have known each other since college. They reunite in Big Sur to celebrate Tim's 44th birthday. Each of them enjoy some degree of professional success but are unfulfilled with their lives. Ron is a stockbroker, but is currently facing indictment from the SEC for embezzlement. Jonathan runs a medical practice, but all of his patients are wealthy drug addicts, he and his wife are divorced, and their young son identifies more with the stepfather. Richard is a published author, but has only written one book and now teaches high school English. Tim, openly bisexual, was in a happy relationship with a man, until accidentally causing a fatal car crash five years ago that took the lives of his boyfriend and his sister. The four friends party for several days at a beach side mansion, during which the men consume massive quantities of drugs provided by Jonathan, including prescription opioids and marijuana. They head into town for food and to pick up women, where Richard convinces a young waitress to bring her friends back to the house. Tim engages in a three-way with two of the revelers, during which they role play the parts of Tim's dead boyfriend and sister. The next morning, Tim hangs himself. The three friends find him, along with a suicide note reminding them of a suicide pact they made in 1986—promising that they would kill themselves together if they found life unfulfilling in middle age. Afraid that the police will blame them for Tim's death, they bury him on the beach behind the house. Ron does not believe they should fulfill the suicide pact, which results in Richard and Jonathan mocking him as a coward and a liar. Ron goes to the airport to return home, but cannot bring himself to board the plane after listening to worrisome voicemails from his wife, indicating that federal agents are waiting to arrest him. He rejoins Richard and Jonathan at the mansion. The men eat lunch at a restaurant where an elderly man goes into cardiac arrest. Jonathan saves his life, drawing the attention of police Officer Boyde. Coming to the house to thank Jonathan, Boyde encounters an inebriated and agitated Ron.