The meaning of Stay Close on Netflix: It’s a film about secrets and trauma

Stay Close on Netflix continues to attract audiences even as most people complain about its unsatisfactory ending. The series is based on Harlan Corben’s book with the same name. It revolves around a mysterious disappearance that happened seventeen years ago, altering the lives of everyone involved. 

For detective Michael Broome, it is the only case he’s failed to crack. For Megan Pierce, it’s the catalyst behind her identity change and adoption of a new life. Seventeen years later, the rumored return of Stewart Green, a man believed to be dead, is about to shake her comfortable suburban existence to its core. 

Stay Close tells a story about secrets and the dangerous effects of trauma

Megan Pierce is currently a married suburban with three kids and a loving husband, Dave (Daniel Francis). Seventeen years ago, however, she was a stripper named Cassie Morris. 

Her life threatens to unravel when her friend from the past, Lorraine, tells her that Stewart Green’s return looms. The secret she’s kept for so long will come out, whether she likes it or not. She ponders whether to wait for time to reveal her skeleton-filled closet or whether to come out with the truth. 

Meanwhile, the sudden disappearance of Carlton Flynn puzzles detective Michael Broom. Such disappearances aren’t rare: a man vanishes every year during the carnival theme night. 

Unfortunately, promising photographer turned paparazzo Ray Levine took photos of Carlton before he vanished. The evidence points to him as being responsible for Carlton’s disappearance. Authorities arrest Ray, and he confesses to killing Stewart Green. 

Detective Broome realizes that he’s lying, prompting him to shift focus to Lorraine, who’s also attracted the attention of bounty killers Ken and Barbie. 

Carlton Flynn’s father hires Ken and Barbie to find out who killed his son. The pair kills indiscriminately and in bizarre fashion; they consider anyone without valuable information useless and, therefore, dispensable. 

Broome arrives to find Ken murdered by Lorraine. She comes clean, confessing to the murder of a man each year during the carnival. Lorraine confesses to killing Carlton Flynn, but though she planned to kill him, she didn’t get to it. 

Dave, Megan’s suburban husband, killed Flynn. He drowned Carlton in a car after Kayleigh knocked him out cold and stuffed him in the boot. 

We learn about Megan’s big secret early in the series, but it turns out that she’s not the only one with something to hide. Revealing her past to Dave threatens their relationship, but he also holds a secret involving murder. 

Few would have guessed that Lorraine was the murderer. She killed men because of the past abuse her ex-husband inflicted on her. Therapy would have helped her deal with the trauma, but she chose to deal with it by murdering abusive men. 

Also Read: How Scary is Netflix’s Stay Close?