Bored with his job as a word processor in the Upper East Side of New York City, Paul Hackett goes out late at night, looking for excitement. While reading a book written by Franz Kafka at a café, Paul meets Marcy Franklin and offers to buy her a coffee. Marcy declines, stating she must return to her friend’s apartment, a sculptress named Kiki Bridges. Mentioning that Kiki sells art, Marcy gives Paul her telephone number. Later, Paul telephones and Marcy invites him to come to Kiki’s SoHo apartment. Paul leaves his home with only a $20 bill and hails a taxicab. In route, the $20 flies out the window. When Paul cannot pay the driver, the man abruptly leaves. Kiki greets Paul since Marcy left to pick up a prescription at a pharmacy. Inside, Kiki works on a papier mache sculpture and complains of having sore shoulders, so Paul gives her a massage. Paul compliments her body and Kiki thanks him, stating she has no ugly scarring, implying that Marcy does. When Marcy returns and takes a shower, Paul waits in her room. He opens her pharmacy bag to find ointment for second degree burns. When Marcy gets out of the shower, Paul tries to kiss her, but she wants to talk. Marcy recounts a story of rape by a former boyfriend. Suddenly, Marcy suggests they go out for coffee. At the coffee shop, Marcy speaks of her estranged husband, a man obsessed with the Wizard of Oz who screams “Surrender Dorothy!” during sex. Upon returning to Kiki’s apartment, Paul kisses Marcy but she cries uncontrollably before running to Kiki’s room. Paul finds pictures of a severely burned woman and assumes it is Marcy. Disgusted, Paul sneaks out without saying goodbye. Paul does not have enough money for either a cab or subway fare, so he walks to a nearby bar where he meets, Julie, a waitress. Paul confesses he is broke and bartender Tom Schorr offers to give him money, but he us unable to open the cash register because he left the keys at his apartment. Moments later, a neighbor tells Tom there has been a rash of burglaries that evening. Paul offers to go to Tom’s apartment to pick up the cash register key and turn on the apartment alarm in return for subway money. Paul gives Tom his house keys to prove he is trustworthy. At Tom’s apartment, neighbors stop Paul in the stairwell and accuse him of being the neighborhood thief. Paul convinces them he is a friend of Tom. While leaving, Paul sees two men, Neil and Pepe, carrying one of Kiki’s sculptures to their van. Assuming they are the thieves, Paul chases after them, causing them to drop the sculpture. Paul carries the sculpture back to Kiki’s apartment and finds her tied with rope. He thinks the burglars are guilty, but she reveals the perpetrator, her boyfriend Horst who is also in the room. Horst berates Paul for ditching Marcy earlier in the evening, and demands he apologize. Paul goes to Marcy’s room, but soon realizes she is dead. He runs to get Kiki and Horst, but only finds a note saying that they have gone to Club Berlin. Paul calls the police, and as he waits, he lifts Marcy’s robe, curious to see her alleged burns. There are none, but he sees a tattoo that matches Tom’s keychain. Paul also finds an empty bottle of pills with Tom’s name on it. Paul writes a note for the police and leaves the apartment. Returning to the bar, he finds it closed, but runs into Julie, who invites him to wait in her apartment until Tom returns. While looking out the window for Tom, Julie babbles about her life. When Paul seems disinterested, Julie becomes upset. Paul apologizes, but when Julie leans in for a kiss, Paul sees Tom outside. Paul returns to the bar and tells Tom that Julie propositioned him, but Tom tells Paul to ditch the girl, saying “What is she going to do? Kill herself?” Paul suddenly worries that Julie will commit suicide. Just then, Tom receives a call about Marcy’s death. She was Tom’s girl friend, but they had a fight the day before which resulted in Tom kicking her out of his apartment. Tom blames himself for Marcy’s suicide, but Paul also feels guilty. Paul returns to Julie’s apartment to check on her. He offers to exchange telephone numbers before abruptly leaving, which upsets Julie. Paul returns to the bar, but finds it closed again, so he goes back to Tom’s empty apartment. The neighbors that stopped Paul earlier, see him leaving after another burglary in the building. Paul goes to Club Berlin to find Kiki and Horst. There, he sees them but cannot get close because delinquents try to shave his head. Terrified, Paul runs out of the club and returns to Kiki’s apartment. He finds $20 stuck to Kiki's papier mache sculpture and takes it. Back outside, Paul sees an angry mob roaming the streets, searching for the neighborhood burglar. He flags down a taxicab, but it is the same driver from earlier, when he did not pay. The driver takes Paul’s money and leaves him penniless. Gail, the cab’s previous customer, witnesses the exchange and takes pity on Paul, offering him use of her telephone. Inside Gail’s apartment, Paul calls information to get a friend’s telephone number, but does not have a pen to write it down. As he tries to recall the number as he dials, Gail jokingly calls out random numbers, confusing him. Upset, Paul explains his situation, and Gail offers to give him a ride home in her “Mr. Softy” ice cream truck. Outside, she sees a flyer with a sketch of Paul’s face that proclaims he is the neighborhood burglar. Gail blows her whistle, alerting the neighbors. Paul flees and climbs a fire escape. As he hides, he witnesses a murder and quips to himself, “I’ll probably get blamed for that.” Paul runs into a homosexual man in the park. Paul pleads for sanctuary, but the man assumes he wants sex, and takes Paul back to his apartment. Paul telephones the police, but they hang up on him. Paul asks the man if he can sleep over, but the man is curious why Paul cannot go home. Exasperated, Paul recounts his entire evening from the moment he met Marcy. As he finishes the story, he sees the vigilante mob, which Julie has now joined, coming down the street, knocking on every door, looking for him. Paul decides it is not safe to stay and leaves. Paul sees Tom in a diner, goes inside, and begs for help. Tom tells Paul to stay put so he can get Paul’s house keys. After Tom leaves, a punk rock girl hands Paul an invitation to an after party at Club Berlin. When the angry mob approaches the diner, Paul escapes again. Paul uses the flyer to get into the club. With the exception of a bartender and a patron named June, who lives downstairs, Paul is the only guest. Paul explains to June that he has had a rough night and just wants to live to see tomorrow. The mob surrounds the club and demands to be let in to search for Paul. June takes him downstairs to her apartment. She is a sculptress, just like Kiki. As the mob enters the building, Paul realizes there is no other exit. To save Paul, June covers him in papier mache, turning him into a sculpture. The mob force their way inside, searching for Paul, but do not find him. After the mob leaves, Paul thanks June and asks her to remove the plaster. She refuses, claiming the mob could come back, and goes upstairs to check. As Paul waits, Pepe and Neil break into the apartment. They are the neighborhood burglars. Pepe likes the Paul “sculpture” and they steal him, placing him in their van. As the sun rises, they drive out of SoHo. The van hits a bump and Paul falls out in front of his office. The plaster breaks and Paul gets up and goes to work.