Zen Noir

The story begins with a morose and brooding Detective (Duane Sharp) receiving a phone call from a local temple, saying someone is about to die. At the temple, a meditating monk (Howard Fong) is seen falling over, apparently dead. The Detective shows up moments afterwards and begins to question the other monks in the temple. He receives cryptic answers to all his queries from Ed (Ezra Buzzington), Jane (Debra Miller) and the Master (Kim Chan), to his rapidly growing frustration.

The Detective continues to treat the case as a murder, although both Jane and Ed insist that they did not kill the dead man. An agitated Ed directs the Detective to meet him at midnight for an unspecified purpose. In the meantime, the Detective rants at the Master, who remains unperturbed, before discovering that the Detective's gun is missing.

Ed meets with the Detective and commits suicide with the Detective’s gun. The Detective, stunned by Ed’s sudden death and haunted by visions of his deceased wife Nora (Jennifer Siebel), is comforted by Jane. The two eventually make love. Afterwards, the two talk, and the Detective is alarmed to realize that he cannot remember his own name.

Jane reveals that she is dying. Distressed, the Detective says he cannot go through the heartbreak of losing someone again, and goes to the Master for his insights on life and death. The master says that he doesn’t know what happens when we die, because he’s “not dead yet.” He does, though, calm the Detective with a lecture on interconnectedness.

The Detective sits with the Master, who after a time also falls over, dead. The Detective continues to sit alone, at first sobbing, then at peace as Nora’s ghost leaves him.

The film ends with a shaven-headed Detective sitting with Jane, holding hands. He asks Jane how long she has to live, and she says she doesn’t know. The Detective accepts this, and they continue to sit together quietly.