Curt, a divorced news reporter, visits the apartment of his actress ex-wife, Bernadette, to see his twin children, Tyler and Bruce.

During their marriage, Curt was physically abusive and unfaithful——a detail he brushes over. In the process of getting divorced, he finds out that his ex-wife has won custody of their children two minutes before he goes on air. Outraged, Curt slips up on live television, and his network fires him. Curt continues to spiral downwards. He moves to a shed in an empty lot, donates his designer clothing, and stops maintaining hygiene. 

Bernadette begins dating a show writer who writes a subplot for her character involving an abusive boyfriend. On one of his visits, Curt tells Bernadette to tell her boyfriend to stop. She hugs him and tries to coax him to hug her back. Resisting his lingering physical attraction for Bernadette, Curt rejects her advances. He expresses resentment that Bernadette seems to still be doing fine after their divorce and criticizes her strict maintenance of her outer appearance.

He visits his children again at his mother’s house. While playing with his children, Curt pretends to be a lion and chases them around the room. Curt’s pretending becomes too rough and he scares his children. When Bernadette tries to block him from the children, he tosses her aside, and she crashes to the floor. Later, Bernadette asks to see where he is currently living. He initially refuses, but eventually agrees. 

When Curt shows his ex-wife and children his shed, Bernadette quietly but noticeably disapproves. Tyler suddenly goes missing and Bernadette goes to look for him. When they do not return for a while, Curt and Bruce search for them and find them at Curt’s neighbor’s house. Steering Bernadette away from the children, he asks her to grab a drink with him.

Over drinks, Curt finds out that a show pilot written for Bernadette by her current boyfriend has been rejected. When Bernadette tries to make suggestions, the show writer belittles and humiliates her. Bernadette hesitates to leave him, however, because Tyler and Bruce are fond of him. Curt also notices that Bernadette has not been maintaining her appearance to the extent she usually does. As Curt reflects on his marriage with her, he comes to terms with his toxicity and how despite their dysfunctional relationship, they still cared about each other in their own way.

Returning to their children, they find them asleep in Curt’s neighbor’s home. The neighbor tells them that the twins had cried when they believed their parents abandoned them. Bernadette tries to wake the twins to let them know she and Curt had returned, but Curt stops her. When she asks him why he does not want to wake them up, he tells her to think about how happy their children will be knowing they are both gone.