Lester Burnham, a middle-aged magazine executive, is entrenched in a life of quiet desperation: his marriage to Carolyn, an ambitious realtor, is cold and devoid of intimacy, and his relationship with his teenage daughter Jane is strained and distant. Lester's personal crisis is heightened by his sense of irrelevance at work, where he faces the threat of being downsized. He is disenchanted by the superficiality of his suburban existence, feeling increasingly alienated and disconnected from his own life. An encounter at a high school basketball game, where he becomes infatuated with Jane's friend Angela, serves as the catalyst for Lester to seek drastic changes. He begins to rebel against the constraints of his mundane life, looking to reinvigorate his lost youth and to find excitement and passion once more.

Meanwhile, the Burnhams' new neighbors, the Fitts family, present another set of dynamics. The rigid and authoritative Col. Frank Fitts, a Marine Corps veteran, imposes strict disciplinarian values on his wife Barbara and their teenage son Ricky. Ricky, who deals drugs and harbors a secret, enigmatic life, becomes involved with Jane, further entangling the relationships between the two families. Carolyn's frustration with her faltering career and unfulfilling personal life sets her on a path of her own self-discovery. As each character embarks on a personal journey, their actions culminate in a series of events that will irrevocably transform them and challenge their perceptions of beauty, happiness, and the American Dream.