Holiday Film Collage

"Merry Christmas." Those are the first words Jerry hears after an unexpected drenching—and when he opens his eyes, an old friend stands before him, nearly unrecognizable. Dan and Jerry were once an inseparable duo, the life of every party during their college days—two kindred spirits so alike in temperament they seemed destined to be friends. But a single incident shattered that bond, and the two drifted apart, each left carrying memories neither wished to revisit. A decade later, on a White Christmas, Jerry's evening at the casino takes a sudden, violent turn when Dan kidnaps him. In place of explanations, Dan offers a wager: a game of chess. "If I win, let's go to 'that forest.'" As the match unfolds, their conversation inevitably circles back to the incident both men have spent ten years trying to forget, and a suffocating tension settles over the board between them. When Jerry seizes a chance to escape, Dan answers by drawing a gun. Yet in that charged moment, Dan finds himself face to face with the man who could once have killed him—and chose not to. At last, the question buried deep in his heart finally escapes his lips: "Back then, you..."