Pop superstar Alfred Moretti announces his first new album in 30 years and invites six guests to a listening party at his Utah compound: journalists Stan Sullivan and Ariel Ecton, talk show host Clara Armstrong, influencer Emily Katz, paparazza Bianca Tyson, and radio shock jock Bill Lotto. Their invitations come with assorted merch, the new album, and a book.
Upon arrival, a staff of denim-clad cultists collects everyone’s devices, and Moretti presents himself as a member of the Levelists — a cult that reveres the book given to each guest. Ariel feels unsettled by the atmosphere, while the others are thrilled to be in Moretti’s orbit.
Each guest is assigned a Levelist as a personal concierge. Belle is Ariel’s concierge, but she keeps a constant, intrusive watch rather than tending to her needs. As Bill unwinds with a massage, he disappears the next day; the Levelists insist he’s fine and merely resting.
Ariel engages Moretti in a discussion about Levelist ideology. When she asks what Levelists actually do, he demonstrates by showing a cultist shucking oysters. Moretti explains that they search for pearls to make into necklaces. During the “Fashioning” segment, Ariel undergoes a makeover and is forced to shave her pubic hair, a moment met with awkward laughter from the rest of the guests before they’re taken to watch Moretti perform a song.
During the show, Emily experiences a debilitating coughing fit and is removed from view. Afterward, Ariel raises concerns about the Levelists’ control and the disappearances of Emily and Bill. Stan is dismissive until he is shot in the shoulder by a young Levelist who apologizes profusely.
Ariel slips away from Belle and discovers the guests’ phones stored in a taxidermy facility, rendered useless. She’s too distressed to notice Bill’s decapitated corpse nearby. She gathers her things and asks to leave, but Moretti persuades her to attend a puppet show while she waits for a bus home. The guests are positioned in beanbag chairs to watch a puppet of Billie Holiday being interviewed by paparazzi rats.
Ariel is jolted when her chair moves. Emily claws her way out of it, and Moretti finally admits to poisoning her. The Levelists attack the guests, killing Stan and Bianca. Ariel flees to a replica of Moretti’s childhood home, where Bill’s head is mounted on a wall. She also discovers cyanide and champagne. Belle tracks Ariel down and overpowers her.
Ariel regains consciousness at a ritual where the Levelists drink champagne. One cultist frees her, and she escapes. When she returns with the police, Moretti calmly plays the piano, surrounded by the corpses of his five guests.
Two years later, Ariel’s book about the experience becomes a bestseller. The Levelists’ bodies have not been found, and Moretti sits behind bars serving life sentences for the murders of his guests. He summons Ariel for an interview and reveals that the Levelists are alive and well, scattered through society. The massacre, he claims, was a calculated ploy to drive Ariel to write a book that would inadvertently promote Levelism.
