Cookie's Fortune 1999

Jewel Mae “Cookie” Orcutt, an elderly woman living in Holly Springs, Mississippi, enjoys the company of her loyal handyman and best friend, Willis Richland. However, after exhibiting peculiar behavior, she tragically takes her own life with one of her deceased husband Buck’s guns.

Later that day, her snobby niece, Camille, who is obsessed with directing local church theater productions, arrives intending to borrow a glass fruit bowl. Accompanied by her timid sister, Cora, Camille is made to confront a horrific sight—Cookie’s lifeless body sprawled on the bedroom floor. In a panic, she drops the bowl, shattering it and cutting herself in the process. Camille, believing that “suicide is a disgrace,” hastily eats Cookie’s suicide note and plots to make it appear as though her aunt was murdered during a robbery. She carefully removes a precious diamond and ruby necklace from Cookie’s neck and discards the pistol into the garden, where it’s witnessed by Ronnie, a young neighbor.

In a further act of deception, Camille coaches Cora to back up her fabricated tale of murder and calls in Sheriff Lester Boyle to investigate. Meanwhile, Cora’s rebellious daughter, Emma, returns home to find herself entangled in a narrative thick with deceit and familial betrayal after a history of petty crimes. An inexperienced sheriff’s deputy named Jason, who has long harbored feelings for Emma, finds himself drawn into the chaos surrounding Cookie’s death.

Willis quickly becomes the prime suspect because his fingerprints are found on the weapon, though he had merely cleaned the guns at Cookie’s request the previous evening. Despite the lack of real evidence, he is arrested, provoking outrage from Emma when she discovers his unjust detainment. In a strange twist, Camille and Cora brazenly move into Cookie’s home, treating it as their own, unaware of the consequences of their actions.

During Emma’s visit to the police station, she observes a rather relaxed atmosphere as deputies Boyle and a local attorney, Jack Palmer, play Scrabble with Willis in his unlocked cell. Adjusting to the absurdity of the situation, Willis shares an amusing story about the necklace that Cookie held dear, recalling that Buck had once found out the gems were just imitations, a fact he kept from her. But soon, Otis Tucker, a detective from a neighboring jurisdiction, starts his inquiries into the various townsfolk connected to Cookie’s demise.

As the investigation unfolds, Emma takes matters into her own hands, refusing to leave the police station until Willis is released. Their passionate encounters become a recurring theme as they secretly escape to share intimate moments amidst the turmoil.

On Easter Sunday, Emma joyfully prepares a special meal for Willis in his cell, while Cora and Camille continue to desecrate Cookie’s memory by cleaning the blood-soaked bedding and removing evidence from the crime scene, believing they stand to gain from her inheritance. They are interrupted by Jack, looking for Cookie’s will, which leads to further complications as Camille’s unique blood type is discovered at the crime scene, undermining her position.

On the night of Camille’s church performance of Salome, where Cora temptingly takes center stage, the police finally catch up to her when they connect the dots regarding the blood match. Camille is apprehended and taken away while a shocked Cora grapples with newfound independence from her sister’s manipulation.

In a dramatic turn of events, the truth about Cookie’s will reveals that she left her estate to Willis, a shocking twist to both Camille and Emma, who had never considered this because of Willis’s race. Emma learns about the complex family ties that bind them together, only to confront more surprising revelations regarding her true parentage which unwinds the tangled web of lies among Camille, Cora, and herself.

As the sun rises, Camille attempts to defend her twisted version of events in an interrogation, sticking to her story about staging Cookie’s death for family dignity. Cora eventually breaks her silence, but not as Camille hoped, leading to Camille facing charges for murder. As despair consumes her, she reenacts portions of her performance in her cell, and while she spirals into sorrow, Willis and Emma find solace in each other’s company, sharing a quiet moment of intimacy after a tumultuous series of events.