Less than two days before the execution, the Fifth Circuit denies Sam’s ineffective-counsel appeal. Adam files an appeal with the Supreme Court and then packs the Cayhall file and leaves the office for the last time.

At Parchman, Nugent and his execution team move Sam to the Observation Cell. Sam deliberately stalls before allowing himself to be handcuffed. As Nugent walks him past the other cells, Sam offers brave looks and winks. After the team leaves, Sam yells that Nugent forgot to remove his handcuffs. The inmates erupt in laughter and mock the flustered colonel.

In Jackson, Goodman arrives at the governor’s office and learns that the phones are swamped with calls opposing the execution. Governor McAllister reviews polls showing 51% oppose executing Sam. In federal court, Judge Slattery’s clerk informs him that Sam’s mental-incompetence claim may have merit.

Adam drives Carmen to Parchman for her first visit. Inside, Carmen meets a clean-shaven Sam for the first time, and they embrace emotionally. Mann interrupts to tell Adam that Slattery has scheduled a competency hearing for later that afternoon.

Judge Slattery speaks with appeals judges and Supreme Court Justice Edward Allbright. Attorney General Roxburgh’s office scrambles to respond to the incompetence claim. Unable to have their own psychiatrist examine Sam without triggering a stay, they identify witnesses who have seen Sam recently: Nugent, Packer, Dr. Stegall, and Chaplain Griffin.

Adam meets privately with McAllister, who says that he could pardon Sam if he knew Sam was only an accomplice. Adam tells the governor that Sam refuses to name anyone and urges clemency anyway. Adam lies, exaggerating the state of Sam’s cognitive health to support their legal claim.

The competency hearing begins at seven o’clock in the evening in a packed courtroom. McAllister and, secretly, Rollie Wedge sit in the audience. Dr. Swinn testifies that Sam is likely “insane” and does not comprehend his impending execution. Roxburgh’s cross-examination does not dislodge Swinn’s opinion. Goodman testifies that Sam refuses to name his accomplice. The state calls Nugent, who testifies that Sam is extremely alert. Psychiatrist Stegall testifies that Sam is sharp and aware, but Adam discredits her by revealing her lack of engagement with death-row inmates. Packer testifies that Sam is mentally sharp and requested to see one last sunrise. Chaplain Griffin refuses to testify, citing ministerial privilege. Slattery upholds Griffin’s refusal and adjourns, promising a ruling in the morning.

The next morning, Nugent briefs his execution team, announcing that state troopers will control protestors. Sam plays checkers with Gullitt in the bullpen. While driving to Parchman around noon, Adam hears that Judge Slattery has denied the mental-incompetence petition. Adam feels like he has failed as a lawyer.

Sam hears the news in the Observation Cell. He removes his red prison jumpsuit for the last time and puts on the civilian clothes that Donnie brought. Wearing real clothes triggers painful memories of his life before incarceration.

Adam arrives to find Sam proud of his new outfit. Sam gives Adam a handwritten letter and insists that he read it to the protestors from the KKK outside. Adam objects, arguing that it undermines their incompetence claim, but Sam angrily insists. Escorted by guards and surrounded by press, Adam reads Sam’s statement. Sam tells the protestors to leave, renounces the KKK, and blames the organization for his fate. A Klansman lunges at Adam, and guards scuffle with protestors before leading Adam to safety. Rumors circulate from the governor’s office that he is considering clemency.

That afternoon, the Fifth Circuit holds a conference call and denies the appeal, which is immediately faxed to the Supreme Court. Adam delivers the news to Sam, who is undergoing his final physical examination. Nugent conducts the lottery to select five media witnesses and announces that Elliot Kramer, the victims’ grandfather, will witness the execution.

Donnie arrives for his final visit. Adam meets him for the first time and finds him clean and neat. Donnie and Sam share levity, reminiscing about childhood pranks.

That evening, Nugent delivers Sam’s last meal: three Eskimo Pies and a thermos of French Market coffee. Sam carefully scrapes the ice cream off the sticks as Donnie and Adam sit quietly, watching. Meanwhile, sheriffs from across Mississippi arrive at Parchman for the traditional execution dinner, a feast prepared by a cook named Miss Mazola. The sheriffs eat heartily and then gather outside to watch the demonstrators and wait for news.

As darkness falls, the protestors grow quiet. In Jackson, Goodman shuts down the phone campaign after logging over 2,000 calls. At Parchman, Sam and Donnie share a final embrace and say goodbye. At nine o’clock, Chaplain Griffin joins Sam and Adam. Sam says the waiting is cruel.

Nugent arrives to take Sam back to the Observation Cell. While holding Adam’s hand, Sam walks down Tier A. Preacher Boy sings “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” Guards close all 35 windows along the tier, and Sam begins shaking.

Goodman calls from the capitol to report that the Supreme Court has denied all appeals. McAllister holds a press conference announcing that he will not grant clemency. Goodman informs Adam.

Adam returns to the Observation Cell with the final news. Griffin suggests confession. Sam confesses to killing Joe Lincoln, participating in revenge killings, and taking part in two lynchings. He reveals the truth about the Kramer bombing: An accomplice wired the bomb to detonate later than planned. Sam was only a lookout and driver. He still feels responsible for the Kramer boys’ deaths because he could have stopped it. Griffin leads Sam in prayer.

At 11 o’clock, Nugent returns with guards. Sam says goodbye to the inmates one final time and then walks with Adam to the Isolation Room for their last hour together. There, Sam expresses his fear of suffering in the gas chamber. He confesses that his accomplice is a killer still at large and that he himself was one of the hooded Klansmen in another lynching photograph in the book that Lee told Adam about. Sam feels relief over telling the truth but is angry that Lee never came to see him. He shares his observation that Adam and Carmen turned out well, as both of them are free of the hatred that defined their family for generations. He wishes he were more like them.

McAllister arrives at Parchman via helicopter to witness the execution. Nugent receives the governor and lets him wait with the other witnesses. Nugent then orders the tower guards to evacuate their posts and the doctor to perform the last physical checkup on Sam.

In Jackson, Goodman, Kerry, Glass, and two students hold hands and pray for Sam. In the Isolation Room, Sam and Adam share a few minutes of nervous small talk. At 11:55, Nugent knocks. Sam embraces Adam and delivers his final messages: He wants him to tell Lee he loves her and does not blame her for staying away, say hello to Adam’s mother, and give his love to Carmen. He apologizes for the legacy he is leaving and says that he will die a proud man because of Adam.

Nugent leads them into the Chamber Room. Adam leans against the wall, nauseated by the sanitized efficiency of the scene. Guards strap Sam into the wooden chair and fasten the head brace. The doctor attaches the stethoscope wire. Mann reads the death warrant and then checks both phones: There are no stays. When Nugent asks for last words, Sam declines and tells Adam it is time to leave.

The chamber door is sealed. Adam and Lucas exit the building as the executioner reaches for the lever. Outside, Adam weeps for Sam. He speeds away from Parchman, heading north with no destination. He stops at a convenience store to buy beer, but the clerk refuses, citing state law. Adam leaves money on the counter and takes the beer anyway. He drives through the night, drinking and visualizing the post-execution procedures being performed on Sam’s body.

At sunrise, Adam is in the Clanton cemetery, sitting against his grandmother’s headstone and drinking warm beer. Four small, red flags mark the site where Sam’s grave will be dug.

Lee appears and sits beside Adam. He confronts her for abandoning them. She says that she was in rehabilitation and tried to see Sam the previous night but was turned away. Adam softens and delivers Sam’s final message: He loved her and wasn’t angry that she didn’t come.

Lee confesses that she drove to the old Cayhall home after leaving Parchman and burned it to the ground. She had purchased the property the previous week. She shows Adam her hands, still smelling of gasoline. She says she did it because evil things happened there.

Adam tells Lee that he failed Sam. She insists that he did his best and should return to Chicago. Adam announces that he’s not returning but taking a job in Jackson doing death-penalty litigation. Lee suggests that they get breakfast at Ralph’s, a café where Sam used to take her and Eddie on their birthdays.

As they stand to leave, a gravedigger named Herman arrives with his crew and a backhoe. The engine starts, and the backhoe begins moving slowly through the cemetery toward them, coming to dig Sam’s grave.