In intense discussion a group leader ponders aloud, asking why hermits hide and what defines outcasts, among other cerebral queries. A group of friends discusses the oddities they have seen and perceived in their lives leather-clad hermits and criminal astronauts among them. They debate the purpose of hermitage, the classification of outcasts, and the purpose of their own reflections.

In a series of commentaries on the human condition — life, truth, happiness, death — a spinster sister takes in her dead sister’s children; a man is entranced by the endless waves which roll and crash in the ocean; a carpenter wrestles with the burden of being everyone’s confidante; a dying railroad crossing watchman shares a simple but complex wisdom.

A man reflects on the loneliness of his childhood home, where his family would fervently clean the house every Saturday for guests on Sunday who would never show.

Walking around town, a man acts as a good samaritan, offering money and assistance to anyone he passes by. He seems to be genuinely kind-hearted until his conversation with his wife upon returning home suggests his compassion is only performative.

A group of friends realize they have been living vicariously through one of their friend's travel stories for their entire lives.

When a young boy witnesses an odd event from the window of his small-town house, he begins to doubt the stability of the world around him.

A city employs people to act strangely to order to make others feel normal.

On a close-knit street, two women commit suicide a week apart from each other. When an ambulance arrives, the adults with a hushed-silence, and the kids joke about dead bodies to torment a local woman.

In a small university town in the 1960s, a mysterious couple moves into the attic and keeps to themselves, leaving the neighbors to wonder what goes on behind closed doors. Through gossip and rumors, the neighbors witness the slow unraveling of Mr. Markham's life.

Brought together by strange Kool-Aid, a bunch of kids reflect on their respective griefs.