Ambitious Chicago theater actress Kira Rascher finally lands the role of a lifetime, but if she takes it, she must work with Malcolm Mercer, a mercurial director known for pushing his performers past their limits, onstage and off.

While following the local town miscreant, a dusty Nebraska town's sheriff's deputy, Harley Jensen, runs into Pam Reddick, a young woman looking for an escape from the chains of motherhood, marriage and her husband's dark family history.