Based on the novel by Steve Erickson, Vikar, a socially awkward architecture student inspired by the few films he has seen, rides the bus into Hollywood. With a tattoo of Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor as they appear in A Place in the Sun on his shaved head, Vikar makes an impression on the beautiful actress Soledad. Soon breaking into film as a designer and eventually a film editor, Vikar begins a dreamlike journey into the world of films that eventually ends in tragedy and almost horrific discovery.