Desire and addiction form the confluence of bad choices and unintended consequences for Veronica Lambert. Her desperation to see her desires fulfilled is palpable as she acclimatizes to big city life, while assuaged by the good intentions of Mr. New York, an old-time movie hustler who befriends the new arrival to the Hollywood scene. Her interest in true love and naivete in life becomes fodder for her married lover, who ultimately seduces her into a criminally-sociopathic and brutal act. Similar to Crash or Pulp Fiction, each character's progressively egocentric motives juxtapose one another, form a cross-hatch of competing elements to complicate and in the end, clarify the outcome of a long path toward betrayal and loss.