The Killing Time is a 1987 American thriller film directed by Rick King, starring Beau Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland.

A stranger shoots a man named Brian Mars and buries him on the side of a road.

Then he assumes his identity and moves to a small town in California to start a job as a deputy sheriff.

His motives are unclear, but he has nightmares of being a child and finding his father's dead body hanging on a rope.

Even though Sam is cleared of any wrongdoing, he doesn't feel like he was a very good cop and resigns from the force and continues his relationship with Laura.