Sam Epstein has been struggling to get his foot in the door, as a filmmaker and as a man, but his attempts inevitably fail. Sam believes that he alone is responsible for his success or failure as a filmmaker, and he resolves to shoot his first feature. At the hands of Sam's roommates, Trevor and Chip, mishaps quickly bring production to a standstill. Trevor introduces Sam's crewmembers to his drug collection while Chip seduces Sam's beloved leading lady, Janus. Sam wrestles to regain control of his shoot, but the battle transforms him into a ruthless, sociopath who carries a loaded gun on the set and throws hot coffee at exhausted crewmembers. Sam finishes the film but loses Janus, plunges himself into debt and incurs a $1 million lawsuit from his crew. Meanwhile, Chip peddles nonexistent screenplays to top acquisitions executives while blocking Sam's own attempts to contact them. Sam snaps, turning to black magic for help.