Frannie Avery (Meg Ryan) is a romance-wary creative writing teacher, who becomes involved with Malloy (Mark Ruffalo), a homicide detective investigating a murder in her neighborhood. Encouraged by her half-sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Frannie develops a relationship with Malloy that is unashamedly sexual; yet their refreshing directness becomes deeply undermined by the ongoing and unsolved murders.

After an attack by a masked assailant, Frannie no longer trusts anyone. Not her intense young student Cornelius (Sharrieff Pugh), who is writing a paper about the “innocence” of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Not her disquieting former boyfriend John Graham (Kevin Bacon), who follows her every move. And definitely not Malloy, who now rouses not only her passion but also her suspicions. Fatefully, the independent Frannie cannot ask for help – grieved and terrified, she takes her survival into her own hands.