In this thriller, the unhappy Laura Burney (Julia Roberts) attempts to escape her miserable marriage and her obsessive, violent husband (Patrick Bergin) by faking a watery death. She travels to a small Southern town and takes on the quiet identity of Sara Waters. As she begins to enjoy her new-found life and freedom, she falls in love with her down-to-earth next-door neighbor, only to find out that her crazed husband has discovered her deception.