u/Equivalent-Cut4828

▲ 3 r/FindThisMovie+1 crossposts

Can’t find the name of a movie I watched years ago

I’m trying to find an older American movie I watched years ago, probably from the late 80s or 90s. I don’t think it was a famous movie at all — more likely a low-budget indie or maybe even a TV movie. The story follows two young friends, around college age, who come from wealthy or well-off families. Before going to college, they get a summer job through connections, doing physical work on a ship or around docks/loading cargo sacks or something similar.

While working there, they meet an older worker, probably in his 30s, blond with slightly longer hair if I remember correctly. He notices that the two guys are privileged, soft and inexperienced, and starts manipulating them. At some point, he either deliberately commits a murder in front of them or tricks them into witnessing it so he can psychologically trap and blackmail them afterward. I remember the movie starting off relatively light, almost like a coming-of-age film, but after the murder it becomes much darker and more tense.

One specific scene I remember is that one of the boys gives the guy a valuable watch that had been a gift from his family, because of the blackmail and pressure he was under.

That’s unfortunately all I remember, but the movie had a very “forgotten 90s thriller/drama” vibe. Does this ring a bell for anyone?

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u/Equivalent-Cut4828 — 4 days ago