Trapped in the suburbs in 1980 -- the era that straddled disco and punk -- 13-year-old Marnie Harmon hates her life. She hates her Mom, hates disco, hates dumb boys, hates school, and most of all she hates her Media Studies teacher, stupid Mr Carter. Her allies are few: Caroline the retard and Cindy the stripper. Convinced that a meeting with John Lennon will resolve her own inner turmoil and help her to comprehend the confusion of the world around her, Marnie determines that she must run away to New York.