On a Manhattan college campus, a tight-knit trio—Derrick Webb, Travis, and Cathy Jones (referred to as Jones)—share a dorm, a classroom, and a growing interest in how rumors shape reality. In their Communications course with Professor Goodwin, the class explores the power of gossip, and the three friends decide to turn that energy into a bold, final paper. What begins as a study in intrigue quickly spirals into a real-life experiment: they will start a rumor, track its spread, and see what it costs everyone involved. The plan is simple, almost performative, but the consequences prove anything but.
At a party, the group crosses paths with Naomi Preston and her boyfriend Beau Edson. Jones harbors resentment toward Naomi, amused and irritated by Naomi’s wealth and what she perceives as entitlement, while also fearing that Naomi might have started a rumor about Jones herself. Derrick, in the meantime, witnesses a charged moment between Beau and Naomi—Beau leans toward intimacy, Naomi withdraws, and she eventually passes out. Seizing the moment, the trio fabricates a rumor that Naomi and Beau had sex, and the rumor begins to travel campus-wide with alarming speed. Jones documents the rumor for her paper, while Travis translates it into an art installation filled with warped photos of Naomi, turning rumor into visual commentary.
As the rumor spreads, Naomi learns about it and tries to piece together what happened. Beau denies the encounter, yet some witnesses remember him celebrating with friends after the party. Distraught and confused, Naomi comes to believe she was raped; with encouragement from her friends, she reports the incident to the police, and Beau is arrested. The discovery sets off a wave of guilt and fear: Jones feels remorse for the harm caused, but Derrick and Travis urge her to stay quiet and avoid complicating the situation further.
Jones uncovers a quiet, troubling thread: Naomi and Derrick went to the same high school. Naomi’s anger at the rumor deepens when she learns Derrick’s name; Derrick, however, insists he does not know Naomi. Jones travels to their old high school and uncovers a painful history: Derrick raped Naomi after she refused his advance. A staff member confirms the rape, throwing Jones into a moral maelstrom as she confronts Derrick with the revelation.
Derrick presents a contradictory version of events: he claims the sex was consensual and accuses Naomi of fabricating the rape to shield her father from disappointment. He admits to selecting Naomi as the target of their “rumor project” as revenge for the way her actions had already disrupted his life. The truth becomes a jagged mirror: Jones is horrified by what she has discovered, while Travis clings to Derrick’s account.
Desperate to salvage something, Jones attempts to come forward to police, but Derrick artfully twists the narrative to cast suspicion on Jones herself—hinting that she is romantically involved with Beau and thereby undermining any confession. The police, swayed by the complex web of lies and Derrick’s manipulation, do not believe Jones. The situation escalates when Beau encounters Derrick and learns of his assault on Naomi; a confrontation erupts, and Derrick, claiming both are victims of Naomi’s alleged deception, knocks Beau unconscious.
Derrick then torments Naomi in her dorm, taunting her about the night of the party and insisting his actions were a calculated response to Naomi’s ruin of his life. Naomi’s subsequent death by suicide becomes a new thread in the rumor mill, and the police begin to suspect Derrick as the prime suspect. The rumor spreads through campus once more, and investigators descend on Derrick’s apartment to search for clues. Travis overhears Derrick attempting to blame him, using Travis’s art as supposed evidence; a detective, however, seems convinced of Derrick’s guilt and heads out to obtain a warrant.
As Derrick packs to flee, Jones notices Travis buying a gun on the street and rushes to warn Derrick, only to find that Travis has beaten him to the apartment. In the ensuing struggle, Derrick fatally shoots Jones. Panicked, Derrick tries to persuade Travis to take the blame, but Travis refuses. In a final, chilling moment, Derrick confesses to raping Naomi.
Derrick’s confession is captured on the recording equipment that Travis secretly set up in the apartment. In the midst of the escalating tension, Jones rises, Professor Goodwin arrives, and Naomi unexpectedly appears with Beau. The investigators reveal themselves to be Naomi’s driver and a student from Jones’s Calculus class, exposing the entire sequence as a carefully staged sting designed to lure Derrick into admitting the crime on camera. As Derrick is abandoned by everyone around him, Professor Goodwin drops a final implication, suggesting that there may be more to the rumor than anyone wishes to acknowledge, including the hint of an affair between Goodwin and Jones.
