In a small Northern California town during the 1940s, a laconic barber named Ed Crane is dissatisfied with his life. His marriage to his wife, Doris, feels empty and devoid of affection, leading him to suspect she is having an affair. While Ed goes through the motions of cutting hair at his brother-in-law's barbershop, he dreams of a different life but feels trapped in his mundane existence. An opportunity for change presents itself when a customer talks about the lucrative potential of dry cleaning. Ed sees this as his chance to escape his dead-end life and begins concocting a plan to secure the necessary funding.

Ed decides to embark on a scheme involving blackmail to raise the money for the dry cleaning venture. He targets his wife's boss, whom he believes is her lover, hoping to capitalize on his silence. Unfortunately, this decision sets off a chain of events that spirals beyond Ed's control, intertwining his fate with a diverse cast of characters, including a scheming businessman, a talented but alcoholic lawyer, and a mysterious teenage girl who plays the piano. The choices Ed makes in pursuit of a different life leads him down a path filled with unexpected twists and dark turns, reflecting the noir themes of fate, existential angst, and the search for meaning in a seemingly indifferent world.