An intimate family portrait of four hapless but resilient women and the bittersweet lessons they learn in keeping up with the hectic demands of their individual neuroses. Each of the women seeks redemption in her own haphazard way, but whatever salvation they find is illusory and short-lived.
Um homem (John Cusack) consegue um novo emprego no 7º ½ andar de um edifício comercial, onde todos os funcionários devem andar curvados. Lá encontra uma porta, escondida, que leva quem ultrapassá-la até a mente do ator John Malkovich, onde pode permanecer durante 15 minutos, até ser cuspido numa estrada na saída de Nova Jersey. Impressionado com a descoberta, resolve alugar a passagem para outras pessoas, dentre elas o próprio John Malkovich.
Inexperienced in love and living in Los Angeles, aspiring actress Claire longs to find that special someone. Unfortunately, she couldn't pick a more undeserving guy when she starts a relationship with womanizer Chad. Although her friend April warns her about him, it's not as if April doesn't have problems of her own -- namely a chronic inability to stay faithful to her longtime boyfriend, Neal.
Nora, a single mother raising two teenage daughters, Shade and Trudi, waits tables at a truck-stop diner in a small New Mexico town. The beautiful and rebellious Trudi drops out of school and gets a job alongside Nora, while the younger Shade whittles away her time at Spanish movie matinees. Their lives are turned upside down when Trudi becomes pregnant and the girls' absent father returns.
