Norman is a middle-aged accountant living in New York City. He loves his job because he takes pride in putting things in order. He disdains his parents for being the opposite of him: his father is a history teacher who has never put his summer vacations to good use, and his mother is obsessed with an illogical conspiracy theory. One night, Norman walks home with his associate, Maltz, who is trapped in his unhappy marriage. The men say goodbye to another, and Norman walks into the apartment he shares with his parents, where his mother is watching late-night talk shows and reading a tabloid magazine. She insists that the English actor, Leslie Howard, is alive; Norman angrily tells her that he isn’t. They fight, and he locks himself in his room, the only place where he can find peace.