Middle-aged couple Ruby and Earl are happy in their new marriage, but the rest of life is bleak and looking bleaker. Earl has lost his job, Ruby hates hers as night shift janitor at a hospital, and they have moved into a cheap, drab apartment. When Ruby suggests they ought to kill her parents for the inheritance, Earl plays along, believing she is joking. The joke becomes more sinister when Janelle, their cheerful, attractive neighbor, shows up to welcome them to the building. Fearing Earl is attracted to Janelle, Ruby suggests they should practice murder on her. Earl is now in a bind; since he seemed to go along with the idea of killing Ruby’s parents, his refusal to kill Janelle only inflames Ruby’s jealousy. Driven by an animal sense of desperation, Ruby brings the situation to a violent conclusion.