Early one morning in small town U.S.A., a twelve-year-old delinquent named Tim throws his sister’s favorite doll off a bridge. Hearing a howl in the distance, Tim looks toward the river’s edge and sees teenager Samson “John” Tollet with a naked female corpse. Tim realizes the young man has murdered his girl friend, Jamie, and is titillated by the wanton killing. Sometime later, at the Stop-Go Liquor Market, Tim watches from afar as John argues with a clerk, who refuses to sell alcohol to minors. Hoping to establish a good rapport with the older teen, Tim steals two beers and leaves them on John’s car seat. To reciprocate, John drives Tim to the ramshackle bungalow of a psychologically unhinged recluse named “Feck” to buy marijuana, but Feck does not come to the door. Tim returns home and taunts his sister, Kim, about her “drowned” doll. However, Tim’s older brother, Matt, is enraged by the boy’s insensitivity. As the two argue, Matt’s friend, Layne, arrives to drive Matt to school and they stop at Feck’s house for marijuana. Tim secretly follows on his bicycle and watches as Feck holds Layne at gunpoint. Undeterred, Layne convinces Feck of their friendship and collects two marijuana cigarettes. At school, Layne and Matt do not believe John’s casual murder confession, so he takes them to the river’s edge to show off Jamie’s corpse. Layne is delighted that life in his sleepy town has become more like a Hollywood movie, and he vows to protect John’s secret. While Layne dramatizes the tragedy, John does nothing to conceal his crime and invites more peers to visit the body, including Layne’s girl friend, Clarissa. Layne orders his friends to cover up the murder and help bury the corpse, but they decline to get involved and resume their daily activities. When Clarissa wavers in her allegiance, Layne argues that the murder was justified, since Jamie’s irreverence toward John’s dead mother instigated his rage. That evening, Matt helps his little sister, Kim, perform a funeral for her “dead” doll in the backyard while Layne returns to the river’s edge and drags Jamie’s body into the water. Layne later reunites with John to buy beer and they are shocked to discover police cars in front of John’s house. Unaware that Matt reported the murder, Layne drives to Feck’s bungalow and asks to borrow his car, so he can escort John out of state in a more reliable vehicle, but Feck reveals that he, too, is guilty of murdering a former girl friend, and does not wish to expose himself to police. Layne orders John to stay in the house and drives away in search of an alternate plan while Feck introduces John to his new sweetheart, an inflatable sex doll named “Ellie.” Feck reminisces about his youth as a promiscuous outlaw, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident, and John convinces him to forego his self-imposed isolation and drive to the store for beer. Meanwhile, Matt is taken into police custody and released to his exhausted mother. Returning home, Matt gets into a fistfight with Tim, who accuses his brother of betraying John. Vowing revenge, Tim goes to his friend’s house and steals a car while Matt wanders away from home, seeking refuge from his dysfunctional family. However, Layne finds Matt on the street and orders him to get into the car, oblivious that his friend tipped off the police. When the two pick up Clarissa, she objects to Layne’s mission, and he commands her to get out of the car. Matt points out that it is dangerous to leave Clarissa alone, and Layne instructs him to stay behind. As he speeds away, Clarissa walks home with Matt, finds sleeping bags, and invites him to spend the night in the park. On the way, Matt buys beer at the Stop-Go Liquor Market and is shocked to see John, robbing the clerk at gunpoint. Meanwhile, Layne returns to Feck’s house and is enraged to discover his friends are missing. As he leaves, Tim and his friend break inside, looking for Feck’s gun, and lose consciousness after smoking his marijuana. Back in town, John continues his crime spree, stealing bullets from a hardware store and driving to the river’s edge. There, Feck dotes on his imaginary girl friend, “Ellie,” but John snatches the doll away, simulates fellatio, and fires Feck’s gun into the river. Startled by John’s callousness, Feck grabs “Ellie” and the gun, explaining that the weapon has sentimental value because he used it to kill his girl friend. Feck describes his murder as a crime of passion, in which violence was a base reaction to overwhelming sensations of love and desire, but John remains indifferent to his victim, Jamie. He admits that he strangled her because it gave him the thrill of ultimate control, and her death made him feel more alive. However, John assumes his life has now come to an end, and he cannot understand why Layne is dedicated to safeguarding his future. He does not wish to become a recluse, like Feck, and realizes that he lacks the empathy to reciprocate friendships. Meanwhile, Matt tells Clarissa that he reported the murder, and they make love in the park. As the town sleeps, Feck remains restless and tearful, watching over John and contemplating his destiny. At dawn, Feck shoots John dead and returns home, where Tim knocks him unconscious and steals his gun. Out on the street, police officers find Layne sleeping in his car and detain him for questioning. He telephones Feck from the police station, unaware the call is being traced. Although Feck does not answer the first call, Layne tries again when he is released from police custody, and Feck is finally awakened by the ringing telephone. As Feck mumbles that John is still at the river, policemen break into his house and Layne realizes his friend has been discovered. Meanwhile, television news reporters gather at the high school to interview students about the murder, and a teacher named Mr. Burkewaite berates Clarissa for her indifference to the tragedy. Escaping the frenzy, Clarissa joins Matt and their friends at the river’s edge, where they smoke marijuana and find “Ellie,” floating in the water. As the teens ponder the humanity of the lifeless doll, Layne arrives in a panic, searching for John, and Matt confesses that he reported the crime. He begs Layne to bring John to justice, but the boy is incensed at Matt’s betrayal, and will stop at nothing to protect John. Running along the embankment, Layne finds John’s corpse and wails in grief, beckoning the others to the crime scene. Just then, young Tim arrives with Feck’s gun and points it at Matt. He believes his older brother must be punished for going to the police, and for hitting him in their subsequent fistfight, but Matt reminds him of their kinship, and Tim cries. Sometime later, the friends attend Jamie’s open casket funeral, and are forced to look at her body one last time.