After practicing his routine on the uneven bars, Drayton University student Danny Stetson earns a high score at his gymnastics competition and aims to continue on to the Olympics. The next morning, over breakfast, he discusses his still undecided major with his wealthy parents, Diana and Kevin, and his younger brother, Sean. At a diner, a girl named Rebecca introduces herself to Danny and he flirts with her. She writes her telephone number on his hand, inviting him to contact her at the community service center where she works. One night, they attend a film screening and discussion of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ; at the event, a man jumps out of a van and attempts to kidnap his son, Aaron, chasing him into an alley. Danny helps Aaron escape, and the students reconvene at a bar. Rebecca explains that Aaron’s father is unhappy with the life his son has chosen and is trying to force him into a corporate law career. Danny, however, wonders why Aaron’s father calls him “Brian.” Over the weekend, Danny accompanies Rebecca and her friends on a religious retreat at a nature commune called “Homeland.” After being greeted by singing members, they eat lunch in the dining hall. Danny feels uncomfortable as everyone bows their heads in silent prayer. Later, Rebecca gives Danny a tour of the facilities, refusing to respond to Danny’s accusations that the commune is a religious cult. That night, Homeland leader Neal Kirklander asks Danny about the kind of person he intends to be. Danny becomes irritable after he is awakened early the next morning and denied coffee at breakfast. Kirklander urges the members to save outside people from their corporate, consumerist lifestyles. While talking in a small group session, Danny proclaims that he does not understand the group’s intentions. After bedtime, a member of the congregation named Gabriel stops Danny from masturbating. The next morning, a frail worker struggles with a heavy wheelbarrow, but Gabriel pushes him until he collapses, promising that God will make him stronger. Kirkland scolds Gabriel for denying the boy rest, and pleads with God to forgive Gabriel for his sin. That evening, Danny enjoys himself while singing hymns, but later attempts to escape into the woods. Pursued by a group of Homeland members, he tumbles over a cliff and into a lake. The boys rescue him and return him to Kirklander, who urges him to stay. Danny goes before the congregation and tells them he has found love at the camp and agrees to join them by renouncing his former life and taking the name “Joshua.” He cuts his hair and burns his clothes and wallet as the members scream, cry, and chant in celebration. After Danny telephones his mother to inform her that he will not be coming home, Diana and Kevin drive to the commune. Inside, Kevin commands Kirklander to return his son, but Danny renounces his parents, and a police officer arrests Kevin for trespassing. At the police station, the officer claims that he cannot legally retrieve their son. The Stetsons return home and cry while watching Danny’s gymnastics videos. One morning, a "deprogrammer" named Charles Pratt shows up at the Stetson house and shows them testimonial footage featuring former commune members he saved from Kirklander’s cult. Meanwhile, Danny and Rebecca solicit people for donations outside a business office. They recollect the moment they first met, complimenting one another for their trusting and loving natures. Danny says his body has undergone changes, and Rebecca admits that females in the commune no longer menstruate. She tells Danny about her previous life, in which she frequently sought male attention. He urges her not to dwell on the past and tells her he loves her; she admits that her love for him is stronger than what the commune permits. That night, Danny awakens from an erotic dream about Rebecca, and she accompanies him to speak with Kirklander. The leader tells Danny that prayer will save Rebecca from her lustful temptations. Later, Kirklander praises Danny for his strength and instructs him to become the head elder of the commune in Denver, Colorado. While Rebecca and Danny return to town to solicit more donations, she tells him that her birth name was “Amy,” and begs him not to leave. Just before she admits her feelings for him, Pratt and Kevin throw Danny in the back of a truck, sedate him, and lock him in the Stetson family basement. When he wakes, Danny criticizes his parents’ greed-driven lifestyle. As Pratt speaks with Danny alone, Danny envisions the image of Rebecca declaring her love for him. He sits unmoving and unblinking, hearing Rebecca’s voice in his head while Pratt destroys photographs of Kirklander. Suddenly, Danny pounces at Pratt, causing Kevin to barge in. Danny attempts to escape through the upstairs window, but Pratt’s assistants grab him and carry the boy back to the basement. Pratt continues to point out the hypocrisy of Kirklander’s teachings, but Danny proclaims he does not want to listen. A group of commune members arrive at the Stetson house asking for “Joshua,” and Kevin attacks them. Rebecca runs inside to Danny, but Pratt separates them and taunts the boy about Kirklander’s ban on sex. Pratt then brings Kevin downstairs and beats him in front of Danny, deprecating him for pandering to wealthy clients and hiring him to torture his son. Danny shoves Pratt against a wall, but Pratt wills him to forget Kirklander’s hateful teachings. Once he has calmed down, the boy emerges from the basement and hugs his parents. He sits in front of the fireplace and remembers embracing Kirklander and Rebecca. Sometime later, he awakens on the couch and overhears his parents arguing with Pratt about performing television interviews. When Danny proclaims he joined Homeland because he wanted to find love, Pratt worries that Danny may still be vulnerable. The next day, Diana is angered to learn that her son went to the commune to follow a girl. After dark, a Homeland member appears at Danny’s window claiming that Rebecca wishes to speak with him. He leaves a note for his parents reading, “Mom and Dad, no matter what happens, I love you,” and finds Rebecca outside the diner where they first met. Calling her by her real name, Danny kisses her and tells her he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. She spots Neil’s truck approaching and urges him to escape, but he refuses to leave without her. Neil smacks Danny for denouncing him, but Danny grabs Rebecca’s hand and they run away together.