Smith, an 18-year-old film student who identifies as undeclared, finds his nights filled with unsettling dreams that begin to bleed into his waking world. As he heads to college with his longtime best friend, Stella, whom he has known since junior high, a mysterious note appears labeling him the chosen son. The strange message tugs at his sense of identity, while his relationship with Stella grows ever more complex against the backdrop of campus life.
At a party, Stella forms a connection with a girl named Lorelei, whom Smith recognizes from his dreams. The night takes another turn when a red-haired girl, who also appears in his visions, vomits on his shoe. Before long, a British student named London enters Smith’s orbit, and the two share an intimate encounter—though London makes it clear she has little interest in a real relationship beyond sex.
Smith’s journey into dream and reality deepens as he visits a nude beach and meets a man named Hunter. Their encounter ends with a blunt disappointment: Hunter is married. Meanwhile, Stella discovers that Lorelei is not only unstable but also a witch whose psychic problems seem rooted in rejection. Stella attempts to distance herself, yet Lorelei’s eerie influence begins to grow stronger, even as Lorelei’s malevolence surfaces in dangerous ways.
A pivotal moment occurs when Smith stumbles upon Thor and his best friend Rex wrestling in their underwear. London then entices Rex into a threesome with Smith, arranged for Smith’s 19th birthday, turning a personal milestone into a chaotic crossover of desire and fear.
As the dreams persist, the red-haired girl reappears, and Smith envisions a chase through landscapes haunted by masked attackers. He learns that in one dream there was a girl killed and her head severed, a revelation that unsettles him deeply. He later meets Madeline, who seems to be the same red-haired girl, and she reveals that she has a twin sister named Rebecca, who was kidnapped years ago by men wearing animal masks.
Lorelei’s power grows more dangerous, and Stella is soon assaulted by Lorelei in a bathroom. Stella survives by spraying water on Lorelei, causing Lorelei to burn up in an eerie flash of magic.
The tension peaks when the animal-masked figures capture Smith, London, and Smith’s mother. They are loaded into a van and taken toward a hidden cult’s headquarters. Smith discovers that the cult’s leader is his own father, a man he was told died long ago; startlingly, London is revealed to be another child of the same cult leader, making her and Smith half-siblings.
In a dramatic pursuit, Stella, Oliver, and the perpetually stoned “Messiah” chase the van. Oliver possesses powers similar to Lorelei’s, but uses them for protective purposes. The Messiah’s seemingly hazy persona is a calculated act meant to shield Smith, and the role of the Messiah intersects with a broader mission: to guard Smith from the cult’s reach. The masked attackers turn out to be Thor, Rex, and Hunter themselves, whose mission is to shepherd London and Smith to an underground shelter designed to withstand a looming catastrophe. The plan hinges on surviving the exposure of dozens of nuclear bombs while ensuring the cult’s takeover of the world with Smith at its helm.
As the confrontation unfolds, the Messiah attempts a daring maneuver, steering the van toward danger. The chase climaxes on a bridge that collapses into a fatal rift as Smith’s father triggers a last, catastrophic move: a button that unleashes a global eruption, and the Earth is cast into ruin. In the aftermath, loyalty, lineage, and power collide in a world where dreams, secrets, and survival collide in inexorable ways.
