Julius Orlovsky, after spending years in a New York mental hospital, emerges catatonic and must rely on his brother Peter, who lives with poet Allen Ginsberg. When Julius wanders off in the middle of filming, Frank hires and actor (Joseph Chaikin) to play the character and begins a fictional version of his psychological portrait. Then, as suddenly as he vanished, Julius turns up in an institution where he and Peter must face their relationship.
Jean Wells (Dierking) believes she kills a man during a hit-and-run one evening. A man named Joe (Saegers)appears and, in exchange for keeping silent about the murder, blackmails Wells. Wells begins to doubt the accident and struggles with her sanity.