They’re greeted by the housekeeper, RAHUL (50s), who shows them the tasteful interiors and hands over a binder of local tips. The family settles in. Laughter, cheese, wine. Outside, gulls wheel; inside, an expensive speaker pumps a dual-audio mix of Hindi film songs and an English podcast — the family’s compromise.

The confrontation escalates. A scuffle over gasoline turns lethal when a stranger brandishes a knife. In the chaos, a bullet ricochets; a neighbor’s roof catches fire in the distance, lighting the night. Lina, forced to hide behind a bookshelf, hears Ruth singing an old Hindi lullaby to steady herself and the group. That song — tender and defiant — humanizes Ruth in a moment where survival logic would otherwise reduce her to a suspect.

Fear metastasizes into suspicion. Amelia’s professional instincts make her gather facts and make plans; Ryan’s complacency clashes with survival instincts that Lina, surprisingly, adapts to quickly. G.H. recounts a succinct, unnerving theory: a cascading technological failure compounded by social panic, maybe something more — an attack? — but he stops short of fixed answers. Ruth, who keeps returning to a phrase in Hindi — “Chhod do” (leave it) — hints that there are things people will do when they can no longer bear the world’s weight.

Amelia, pushed by a combination of guilt and responsibility, decides to drive to the nearest town at first light to seek answers and supplies. G.H. insists on joining; Ruth refuses, insisting she must go back to a place she won’t name. Lina, furious and courageous, goes along to assert control over her own fate. Ryan, torn, finally volunteers to stay with the house as a fallback point.