| Director | Ryan Gosling |
|---|---|
| Budget | $2 million |
| Box office | $615,500 |
Single mother Billy lives in a rapidly declining and crumbling Detroit neighborhood with her two sons: teenager "Bones" and toddler Franky. While Franky is adored by both, Billy and Bones are emotionally distant from each other.
Bones spends his time salvaging copper piping from local abandoned buildings to buy needed parts for his car, while avoiding the vicious and sadistic Bully. Bully is monopolizing all copper recycling in the area via intimidation and violence. When Bully catches Bones in his territory, Bones abandons his finds and flees. Later, Bones reclaims his duffle bag of copper and escapes Bully and his toady, but is now marked for violence.
Meanwhile, his desperate mother Billy meets with the new mortgage banker, Dave, regarding the overdue predatory loan on her dilapidated and almost worthless family home. Unemployed, Dave offers Billy a mysterious job, without explaining its nature, only alluding to her physical beauty.
A demolition crew begins tearing down the vacant houses in the neighborhood. Along with Bones, Billy, and Franky, three of the few remaining residents are Rat, her grandmother, and her pet rat, Nick. Rat's catatonic grandmother repeatedly watches her old wedding video, mourning her husband, who died while constructing the local reservoir dam decades ago.
Bones discovers an overgrown road that leads under the lake. From Rat, he learns there was once a town and prehistoric dinosaur park where the reservoir now sits. Rat believes they must bring a "beast" from the underwater town to break the "curse" plaguing their neighborhood.
Dave's job offer leads Billy to a cabaret that Dave owns. Driven there by a friendly cabbie, she meets Cat, who does a theatrical gore show. The show's appeal is a theatrical, gory "murder", where Cat is stabbed or bludgeoned repeatedly, "spraying blood" into the captivated and delighted audience. Later, backstage, Cat shows Billy around and discusses potential cabaret skills and acts for her.
Rat invites Bones to go dancing at an abandoned high school and implies they would leave town together if necessary. Later, in a gas station convenience store, they are almost cornered by Bully and Face. Bones hides from them, and Rat accepts a ride home from Bully and Face, who later beheads her pet Nick, for aiding Bones's escape.
Billy must take Franky to work with her because Bones is out with Rat. For her gore performance, she "cuts off" her facial skin, which excites the audience and draws great applause. Billy later sits with Dave, the cabaret's host, who performs a song. He drives her and Franky home, and clearly declares his sexual desires for Billy.
Bones drops Billy off at work one night and sees the nature of her work. Unable to steal copper anymore to help financially, he plans to break the "curse." Leaving Franky with Rat, he dives into the reservoir to cut the head off a dinosaur statue. Meanwhile, Face sets Rat's house on fire and then dies in the flames. Rat cannot rouse and rescue her catatonic grandmother, so leaves with Franky.
Having retrieved the dinosaur head, Bones comes ashore to find his car ablaze. Bully tries to run him over, but Bones throws the dinosaur head through Bully's windshield, causing him to crash into the now smoldering car. Bully is violently ejected from his white convertible and drowns in the reservoir.
At work, Billy is sealed in a shell while Dave performs a sexually erotic dance routine around her. Despite Billy's plastic cage being locked, Dave has a remote device key. Billy steps out of the plastic chamber, stabs Dave in the ear, and then flees. Billy returns to find her sons and Rat sitting on their house steps while Rat's home burns. With the help of the taxi driver, the four of them leave the neighborhood with the dinosaur head strapped to the top of the taxi, concluding the film.
Rat's home continues to burn in the background as the credits roll. The background fades to black after a minute, but red smoke from the fire remains in the background.