In New York City, a young woman named Wren, who fancies herself to be an up-and-coming rock ’n’ roll star, steals sunglasses from a pedestrian and pastes photographs of herself inside a subway train. There, Paul, a plainly-dressed newcomer to the city from Montana, is smitten by the girl. When Wren gives him one of her handbills, he follows her around town and approaches her that night in front of the Peppermint Lounge, a nightclub for New Wave rockers. When Wren is ignored by the showcased musicians, she allows Paul to walk her home, but rejects his request for a date. The next morning, Paul awakens in his makeshift home, a spray-painted van, and admires Wren’s flyer which features the text, “Who is this?” Friday night, Paul waits outside Wren’s door and she reluctantly agrees to join him for a movie. Although Paul tries to coax her back to his van, his seduction is interrupted by a bygone rock star named Eric, who jumps out of a taxicab to get away from his blonde date. Besotted by Eric, the former front man of the band “Smithereens,” Wren chases him to a bar and vies for his attention while Paul grudgingly plays video games. Paul begs her to leave, but she insists Eric can bolster her career. As Wren and Eric dance, Paul leaves in anger. Sometime later, Eric carries the intoxicated Wren back to his basement dwelling and speaks of his plans to move to Los Angeles, California, where he will revitalize his career. In the bathroom, Wren discovers Eric’s disheveled and injured roommate, Billy. Although she rejects his advances, she awakens the next morning to find herself lying between the two men, completely clothed, as Eric’s sultry, blonde taxicab companion watches from across the room. Eric kisses Wren goodbye and she returns to her shared apartment to find a padlock on the door. The landlady throws her clothes out the window and pours water on her head. Now homeless, Wren seeks a loan from her sister, Terry, who suggests the girl return to their family home in New Jersey. Terry’s boorish husband, Mike, also refuses Wren’s request. The girl then finds Paul’s van in a vacant lot and begs for help. Although he tries to drive away without her, his vehicle breaks down, and she convinces him to burglarize her apartment to retrieve her remaining belongings. Back in the van, Wren finds Paul’s handgun and moves into his shabby abode. However, she remains infatuated with Eric. Sometime later, she tries to take up residence with her copy shop co-worker, Cecile, but the girl insists her roommates despise Wren. When Cecile pleads for an introduction to the infamous Eric, the girls head to his apartment for a date, but he fails to show. Dejected, Wren returns to Paul’s van and rests next to him. Paul awakens in anger and accuses Wren of being an opportunist. The following day, Wren finds Eric at a café, beguiling another lovesick devotee into financing his Los Angeles pilgrimage. Wren insults the woman and a fight ensues. That evening, Paul finds Wren in his van with a bloodied face. She tells him about a dream in which the world is blown to “smithereens,” but the deluded survivors still go about their lives in ignorance, floating on remaining shards of earth. Wren admits she is from New Jersey, where she is universally despised, and asks Paul to shoot her, but the two make love instead. Afterward, Paul announces his plan to leave for New Hampshire and invites her along. When Paul is away the following day, Wren is surprised to find Eric in the van. He claims to be out of money, with no ride to Los Angeles. Although Wren is considering the move to New Hampshire, Eric tempts her with a kiss and shares a “dangerous” idea. Sometime later, at a nightclub, Wren propositions a married businessman named Ed who is in New York City for a convention. As they leave for his hotel in a taxicab, Eric joins them and holds the man at gunpoint, demanding money, jewelry, and his pants. At Eric’s den, he counts their booty of $176 and permits Wren to keep Ed’s wristwatch. She returns to Paul’s van the next morning to collect her two shopping bags of belongings. Leaving behind her broken television, she announces her departure for Los Angeles, but Paul warns Wren that she cannot keep exploiting her allies. Wren arrives at Eric’s to find him gone. In the foyer, Eric’s glum, blonde companion shocks Wren with the news that she is Eric’s wife, and offers Wren a cigarette in commiseration. Wren heads to co-worker Cecile’s apartment and unsuccessfully begs for a place to stay. Homeless yet again, Wren pushes her way into the Peppermint Lounge to proposition a musician, but she is thrown out of the club by a security guard. As a last hope, she telephones her sister but the woman’s callous husband answers and Wren hangs up. After spending the night on the subway with fellow derelicts, Wren returns to Paul’s van, sees a man working underneath the vehicle, and presumes him to be her former lover. However, a stranger slides into view and reveals that Paul sold the inoperable van for $700. Inside, Wren finds the new owner’s small harem of prostitutes, sitting beneath Paul’s portrait of her. Grabbing her broken television, Wren walks away in defiance. Along the road, she is mistaken for a prostitute, and initially ignores the man’s solicitation. However, Wren reconsiders when he asks if she has anywhere else to go.