A dark-haired woman survives a car crash on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, escaping with a head injury and amnesia. She takes refuge in an apartment that belongs to an aunt of an aspiring actress named Betty, who arrives from Canada, bright-eyed and optimistic about her Hollywood prospects. The two women cross paths, and Betty, shocked to find the amnesiac woman taking shelter, is moved by her plight. They form an unlikely friendship borne of necessity, as the dark-haired woman adopts the name "Rita" after seeing a poster of Rita Hayworth. Betty, showing compassion and a sprightly can-do attitude, decides to help Rita figure out her true identity.

Together, Betty and Rita embark on a seemingly straightforward quest to unearth Rita's past, delving into the shimmering, seductive underbelly of Los Angeles. As they follow a trail of clues that includes a mysterious blue key, an enigmatic box, and a set of cryptic encounters with an eccentric cast of characters, their journey takes on a dreamlike quality. Meanwhile, another narrative thread follows a film director named Adam Kesher, who grapples with strange and sinister forces in the film industry that appear to be manipulating his latest project and personal life. These narratives intertwine, creating a complex tapestry of illusion and reality that suggests the underpinnings of Hollywood are as much a fantasy as the stories it projects on the silver screen.