The story takes place in a dilapidated, once-thriving warehouse district now home to low-rent housing, inhabited by artists, squatters, sex workers, and drug addicts. Quisp, a homeless street poet, recites

rambling poetic reflections while life unfolds chaotically around him. One night, a cheap prostitute named Crystal is brutally murdered by a mysterious figure in an alley.

 

Elsewhere, at a No Tell Motel, sex worker April interacts with various clients, including Quentin, who has a foot fetish. In the same district, Leon's Diner serves as a safe haven for the downtrodden, owned by Leon, a

kind-hearted man who sees loneliness as one of life's cruelest jokes. Detective McCleary, a jaded cop, and

Lieutenant Ortega, his ex-partner, investigate the murder while navigating their complicated past.

 

Coop, a well-dressed man carrying the weight of guilt and shame, comes to the diner seeking solace. Quisp

seems to carry a prophetic wisdom as he interacts with Coop and the other characters. Tiffany, a younger

sex worker under the watchful eye of her pimp, Latigo, forms a complicated relationship with Ryan, a highschool teacher and sex addict.

 

Coop attempts suicide but is confronted by April, who sees through his pain. As the violence escalates, so do the tensions, leading to a tragic shooting at Leon’s Diner.

 

The screenplay concludes with the police investigation intensifying, and an unexpected turn leads to a showdown between Cherry and the killer. 

 

Throughout the story, the characters seek

somewhere to run,

but ultimately, they must confront themselves.