The Walters are agoraphobics, one mentally ill, struggling to coexist without killing themselves or each other. Irvin Walter's continued attempts to take his own life have failed miserably, and he continues to be frustrated by his ineptitude. His schizophrenic personality reincarnates the past, complete with the Mother he yearns for and his seven-year-old self, who becomes his companion. His tortured existence poses a stark contrast to his wife Ida's bubbly optimism. Even as Irvin fills various roles in Ida's fantasies, he struggles with his own skewed sense of reality.