Joyride

Scott, John, and Suzie head to Alaska hoping to make money through salmon fishing. They quickly lean on the possibility of pipeline work and fast cash. The group enters a bar where plans for better opportunities start to form, setting the tone for their desperation.

An older man in the bar offers to line up work for all three, handing Suzie his card as Scott and John sleep off their drunkenness. The next morning they discover their car has been broken into and robbed, underscoring how hard their situation has become. The potential jobs suddenly look like their only way out.

With the older man's help, the men land pipeline jobs while Suzie finds work as a waitress to keep money coming in. The three start down a precarious path toward survival and questionable ethics. The balance of profits and risks begins to tilt toward desperation.

The trio walks out of a food market with a shopping cart of unpaid meat while it is being robbed, illustrating how far they are willing to go for food and money. The incident compounds their sense of crime as a routine way of life. The scene shows their mounting desperation and lawlessness.

At a bar, Scott meets Cindy who asks for money to go home with her. He declines and instead buys three pistols, then spends the day with John and Suzie sharpening shooting skills. The mood shifts as gunplay becomes a tool for control and survival.

Scott pulls a gun on coworkers to stop a theft of pipeline equipment, earning himself dismissal from the job. The next day John faces threats as a consequence of the incident. The trio's fragile stability begins to crumble under the weight of violence.

Suzie quits her workplace after continued harassment, and the trio are forced out of their apartment due to financial strain. The downward spiral accelerates as they lose their home and steady income. This turns everyday life into a string of risky decisions.

Scott and John steal Sanders' car and go on a joyride, eventually totaling it at a garbage dump. They return to the bar, win money in a ridiculous peeing contest, and use their winnings plus an endorsed payroll check to buy a 1957 Pontiac. The payroll check complicates matters when it cannot be cashed legally.

They rob the payroll office at gunpoint, using Cindy as a hostage to escape the police. They switch from the stolen car to the 1957 Pontiac, only to risk capture as a train chase unfolds. They direct the ransom money to be deposited on an open railroad car, triggering a tense pursuit along the tracks.

After evading the pursuing authorities, they abandon Cindy at a police station and keep the ransom money untouched because of serial-number concerns. They instead take a job melting scrap metal to survive. The trust among them frays further, yet they keep moving.

John discovers Scott showering with Susie, escalating into a confrontation; he steals a camera during the dispute while being filmed by surveillance. He then throws some stolen money at the shop owner, who chases him as he drives away. Ultimately, the three reconcile and continue together.

They abandon the old Pontiac for another stolen car and attempt to slip through a US–Canada border checkpoint, narrowly escaping authorities. A shotgun blast rips through a window during a roadblock, forcing them to push on into the Canadian mountains. The group presses on despite growing danger.

Their car runs out of gas and John and Susie sleep in the vehicle while Scott wanders to find another ride. John appears to have died from exposure, but Scott administers a wake-up slap and the trio continues in a newly stolen truck. They drift toward an uncertain future as the credits roll.