Lily Alyssa Milano Leonetti is a sheltered art student from Michigan who travels to California for college and quickly finds herself renting a shared apartment. There, she encounters a trio of housemates who feel a little off-kilter but also deeply engaging: Tanya Kathryne Dora Brown is a warm, liberal artist who becomes a true friend; Bridgette Victoria Haas is a sharp-tongued and cruelly teasing presence who seems to relish pushing Lily’s boundaries; and Robert Walter Kim is the quiet, talented musician who adds a different rhythm to the home. From the start, Lily senses that this household is far from ordinary, and the more she settles in, the more she notices strange rhythms and unspoken tensions underneath the surface.
Her life takes a sharper turn when she discovers a box belonging to a girl named Ivy. Inside are nude photographs and a diary that fascinate Lily, awakening a powerful desire to possess Ivy’s fearlessness and sexual confidence. This obsession with Ivy’s world begins to spill into Lily’s daily life, especially in her art classes, where she struggles to express herself but finds a counterpoint in Gredin Johnathon Schaech, an attractive fellow student and sculptor who becomes her romantic interest. Lily also takes a babysitting job for Daphna, the daughter of her art teacher, Donald Falk Xander Berkeley, a man whose reputation for cheating on his wife weighs heavily on the household.
As Lily delves deeper into Ivy’s letters and photos, she gradually starts to resemble Ivy in mood and style. She cuts her hair, adopts more revealing clothes, and begins to pull away from her friends as her obsession grows. This shift does not go unnoticed by those around her. Gredin grows increasingly drawn to her, and a tense relationship develops between them as Lily navigates the complicated dynamic with Donald and the rest of the household. Lily’s artistic energy also reawakens in Donald; she agrees to pose nude for him, and he falls in love with her, a change that puts further strain on his strained marriage to Angela Falk Belinda Bauer.
The web of longing and jealousy thickens as Lily suspects something is amiss between Gredin and Bridgette. Her attempt to reclaim control leads to a rebellious spiral: she pierces her navel and revels in attention from men at a Halloween party, even as she notices Gredin dancing intimately with another girl. In a bid to provoke jealousy, she kisses a masked partygoer who unexpectedly turns out to be Robert Walter Kim. This impulsive fling with Gredin culminates in sex, but the next day he ends the relationship, sensing how much Lily has changed.
Meanwhile, tensions at home intensify. Angela suspects Donald’s involvement with Lily after seeing Donald’s drawings of her, and Donald, already unhappy from Lily’s kiss with Gredin, confronts his own feelings and attempts to kiss Lily. Their seduction gradually escalates into a sexual encounter that is quickly interrupted, and Lily leaves—only to find herself drawn back toward Gredin and the dangerous, intoxicating mix of art, desire, and risk that surrounds them.
The emotional toll peaks at Thanksgiving dinner, when Lily brings Gredin to meet Donald’s family. The night unfolds with a tense undercurrent as Lily helps Daphna settle for bed, only for Donald to isolate Lily in a moment of coercive violence. Daphna witnesses the assault, flees into the street, and is struck by a car. Lily is left devastated by the trauma of the night and destroys all traces of Ivy from her life.
In the aftermath, Gredin arrives to reveal that Daphna survived the incident, but Donald’s rage boils over. A brutal confrontation ensues: Donald knocks Gredin aside, chases Lily to the roof, and attempts to pull her back from the edge. It is Gredin who pulls Lily away, and Donald plunges to his death. The tragedy forces Lily to confront her future: she contemplates leaving California and returning to Michigan, but her confession of love with Gredin gives her a reason to stay. In the end, Lily chooses to remain in California, seeking a path forward that honors both her art and the complicated relationships that have shaped her journey.
