Days of Heaven(1978)

The movie begins in 1916 as Bill (Richard Gere), a Chicago steelworker, flees after accidentally killing his boss during a fight. He takes his girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) and younger sister Linda (Linda Manz) on a train to the Texas Panhandle, where they find work harvesting wheat on a vast farm owned by a wealthy, terminally ill Farmer (Sam Shepard). To avoid suspicion, Bill and Abby pretend to be siblings.

The Farmer falls in love with Abby, unaware of her relationship with Bill. When Bill overhears doctors say the Farmer has only a year to live, he convinces Abby to marry the Farmer, hoping they’ll inherit his wealth. Abby reluctantly agrees, and the Farmer’s health temporarily improves after the wedding. Tensions rise as Bill grows jealous, and the Farmer becomes suspicious of Abby’s closeness to Bill.

One night, a swarm of locusts devastates the farm. Workers set fire to the fields to kill the pests, but flames spiral out of control, destroying the crops and the Farmer’s mansion. During the chaos, the Farmer discovers Bill and Abby together. Enraged, he shoots Bill, who dies in the fields. The Farmer then flees but is later killed by police.

Abby and Linda leave the farm and board a train with other migrant workers. Linda, who narrates the story with raw, reflective musings, says, “Nobody’s perfect. There was never a perfect person around. You just have half-angel and half-devil in you.”

The film ends with Abby and Linda walking along a river, their future uncertain.