Ruby's life begins to unravel when she hears voices coming from her closet. It isn't long before they are with her all the time. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, her treatment goes awry when she meets a drug dealer, Kenny, in group therapy. He introduces her to cocaine, and then heroin, and within a short space of time she is ready to do almost anything for a drug that makes her feel alive. Unwilling to let her go, her father, Glen, follows Ruby through the streets, catching glimpses of the horror-filled world in which his daughter now resides. Desperate to comprehend her illness, he finds parallels between Ruby and his job as a marine biologist, particularly in the mysterious death of a young whale, found with a body full of chemicals. In a struggle to get his daughter back, Glen commits an unthinkable act that could cause him to lose everything else that has ever mattered to him.