A young college grad, Naomi turns down law school to pursue poetry, despite her father’s objections. She subsequently struggles to survive in 1993 Denver, after being cut off by her father during a period of violent crime in the city known as the Summer of Violence.

Millicent working on her thesis about children with severe allergies, is hired to babysit little Johnny, a sickly, mute child who suffers from every allergy under the sun. As she discovers Johnny’s dark family secrets, things begin to become unhinged.