Before We Were Innocent

Joni’s house is spectacularly modern and is perched on the edge of the Malibu coast. When Bess arrives, she questions Joni about Willa’s disappearance. One of the neighbors apparently saw Willa after Joni claims to have left the house. The two had planned to go out paddleboarding, but Joni claims that they did not because Willa found a picture of Zoey, Joni’s secret girlfriend, on Joni’s phone. Bess worries that the press will soon make the connection between her, Joni, and Greece, and she does not want to be back in the public eye. Bess realizes that Joni’s alibi in Willa’s disappearance hinges upon her lie.

The two women think back to the summer of 2008. After Evangeline died, the press gained access to all of the snarky notes they had written to each other about Evangeline. Bess’s email account was also hacked, and the public soon knew that she and Joni had mercilessly made fun of Evangeline. Lacking the full  context, the media vilified them.

At dinner, Theo asks Bess to sit next to him in a spot that Evangeline had previously designated for herself. Evangeline is not pleased, and when Bess helps to clear dishes after the meal, Evangeline tells her that she does not “have permission” to hook up with Theo. Fuming, Bess asks Evangeline if she thinks that Bess is not good enough for Theo, and Evangeline scoffs and claims that Bess is making a fool of herself. Bess angrily walks back out to the table. Joni, noticing that Bess is upset, asks if she would like to go to a walk. Theo jumps in and says that he will go on a walk with Bess. He tells her that they are leaving the next morning, and Bess is disappointed.

Reporters have gathered outside Joni’s house, and the shades are closed. Joni tells Bess how irritated she is that she must delay the launch of her book until Willa is found. Bess notices two paddleboards hanging on the wall. Joni tells her that they go out in the water every day, and that Willa’s board is the pink one. The two begin to reminisce about Evangeline, and Bess remembers that one year, Evangeline hid Theo’s passport so that he couldn’t go skiing without her. The women conclude that Evangeline had been controlling and was just as “shady” as Bess and Joni; she had just hidden it more effectively.

Now, Joni goes paddleboarding, and while she is out, Bess looks through a stack of pictures of Willa. She finds one of Willa holding what is clearly her paddleboard. It is blue, not pink. She wonders why Joni told her that Willa’s was the pink board.

Bess spends the entirety of the night with Theo, but they do not have sex. She has begun having sex recently, and although she has often felt compelled to do so, she has not truly enjoyed it yet. She had been hoping to sleep with Theo, but she is touched that he doesn’t want their first encounter to be rushed. The house is full of people, and they do not really have anywhere private to go. Instead, they lie on a pool chair together, making out and talking. Theo feels trapped by Evangeline’s neediness and tells Bess that there is an unpleasant distance between himself and his father. He says that he wants to come back and spend time in a secluded spot on a nearby island; he asks if she’ll join him, and she agrees. The next morning, Joni wakes them up. Both she and Evangeline have noticed that Theo and Bess spent the night in each other’s arms, and Joni explains how upset Evangeline is at Bess. After Theo leaves, the three girls are tense, and their power dynamics have shifted; Joni now sympathizes with Evangeline rather than Bess.

One of Theo’s friends, Bardo, gives an interview to the press after Evangeline’s death. He tells the reporter that there was a division between the girls, and that Evangeline seemed sad and alienated from her friends. He thinks that Evangeline was an especially wonderful person, which makes her death all the more tragic.

Due to Bess’s urging, Joni has prepared a public statement on Willa’s disappearance. Steven sends a copy to Bess, and even she must admit that its cold, distant phrasing hardly invokes the “radical honesty” for which Joni has become famous. Bess does not mention her opinion to Joni, even when Joni complains that Willa’s disappearance has overshadowed her own publicity. Joni laments that she has worked hard since Evangeline’s death to reshape her public image, and the upcoming release of her book is important to her. Bess wonders if the book launch is more important to Joni than Willa is. She also notices a long, red scratch on Joni’s chest, and although Joni observes her interest, she does not explain. Most of the time, she remains eerily calm, but when she gets angry with Bess at one point, Bess sees Joni’s old rage rise to the surface. However, Joni quickly regains control, and the moment passes.

Evangeline is cold and distant towards Bess, but Bess is too lost in dreams of a future with Theo to let the tension bother her too much. Bess tries to tell Joni what had happened with Theo, but Joni mockingly relays an accurate version of the quiet conversation that Bess and Theo shared; Joni then explains how predictable Theo’s “classic rich kid” (133) approach really is. Embarrassed, Bess tells Joni about her and Theo’s plans to spend some time alone together on a nearby island. Because Bess has already declined Joni’s offer to island-hop a bit, Joni becomes angry, and Bess makes Joni promise not to tell Evangeline about her plans with Theo. The next morning, Joni screams about how “dystopian” their trip has been and asks to go to Mykonos. Evangeline comforts her, and the three agree to leave for a few days.

Bess is on her way to her brother Steven’s place to meet his fiancée, Nova. Knowing that her brother has always disliked Joni, she tries to sneak out of Joni’s house quietly. Joni sees her leaving and manages to wrestle an invitation out of Bess, so the two set out together. Bess texts Steven about the change of plans, and he is less than pleased.

Although Evangeline has agreed to go to Mykonos, she passive-aggressively communicates her displeasure about the trip by refusing to pay her share, even though she is much wealthier than either Bess or Joni. However, once they get to Mykonos, the tension dissolves. The three talk about their college plans, share pizza and wine, and decide to go out to a bar. Bess feels a sense of relief that the three seem to have weathered their recent storm and that their friendship is unaffected.

The dinner with Steven is tense. Nova mistrusts Joni because of her connection to Willa, and Steven has always disliked her. Joni is the only calm one at the table, and Bess is anxious the entire time. After they eat, Nova shows Bess around Steven’s office. He still spends a significant amount of time online, trying to clear Bess’s name. He has all kinds of photographs, charts, and other pieces of evidence, and he works diligently in various online forums, trying to convince total strangers of his sister’s innocence. Bess is moved to learn this.

The girls put on their best clothes and spend hours at a bar. Even Evangeline, who is typically more reserved, gets drunk along with the other two girls. At one point, they raucously dance to MGMT’s “Time to Pretend,” which initially fills Bess with euphoria but then leaves her with a melancholic feeling of anticipatory loss. Afterwards, the energy shifts, and she wonders how long they have been drinking. Joni disappears with a woman, and Evangeline and Bess snap at each other. Evangeline accuses Bess of trying to come between her and Theo. They are interrupted by a group of older guys who invite them back to a party.

At the party, the girls get into a loud argument. Evangeline has found out about Theo and Bess’s plan and claims that she heard the news from Theo. She accuses Bess of trying to take the “only person” she has. The argument escalates quickly, and the two girls hurl insults at each other, with Bess pointing out Evangeline’s extreme privilege, and Evangeline declaring that Theo is not really interested in Bess. By this point, the two are arguing as they walk along a steep path, and Evangeline stalks away in a huff, declaring that Bess is a bad person. Bess can see that the path Evangeline has chosen is dangerously steep, but she does not point out that there is another, safer path.

After dinner, Bess breaks down and googles herself. She finds thousands of pages full of strangers speculating about her guilt.

On her way back to the hotel on the less treacherous path, Bess sees a shadowy object fall from the cliff. It is Evangeline. She follows the path down to the beach below and finds Evangeline’s body. In shock, Bess sits next to the body, and this is where Joni finds her. Bess explains to Joni what happened. Joni, realizing that Bess and Evangeline have just been seen arguing loudly, tells Bess that the two must lie and claim that they were both with Evangeline when she fell. They begin screaming, and the partygoers find them. The police are summoned. Bess and Joni head back to their hotel alone.

A reporter follows Bess around Whole Foods. Unnerved, she leaves her basket of food in the store and runs to Joni’s. Bess tells Joni that the two must separate, or else the press will have a field day with the idea that they have banded together again and are involved in another mysterious crime. Joni does not want Bess to leave and explains that there is more to the story than she previously disclosed. She states that Willa had been cheating on her with a schoolteacher named Lucien. Horrified at the tangled web of Joni’s lies and upset by the manipulation, Bess leaves Malibu and heads back to her cabin.