The film opens with Vollmer balancing a water tumbler on her head as Burroughs, her husband, aims a gun at her as she entices him to shoot her. The film then cuts to Joan and Burroughs in the months prior in Mexico City, as Burroughs is leaving on a trip to Guatemala to meet his male lover, Lee. Joan, despondent from William's affair and his disinterest in her, is left to take care of their two children while he goes on his vacation.