Don's Plum

A group of young men, all about 20 years old, meet at Don's Plum, a Los Angeles restaurant, every Saturday night. The group often brings new women they have met to these gatherings. Ian, a peculiar but somewhat charismatic young man, is at a jazz bar attempting to invite a woman to join him and his friends at the restaurant. After being rejected twice, he asks Juliette, a waitress he knows, to come along. Meanwhile, Amy, a young woman kicked out of a car by her boyfriend, hitchhikes and is picked up by Ian's friend Jeremy, an aspiring actor. Jeremy and another friend, Derek, meet with an acquaintance, Leon. Derek takes Leon's phone and ignores him as he unsuccessfully tries to call a girl, leaving Leon upset after Derek declines his invitation to hang out. Another friend, Brad, who is bisexual, finishes sleeping with Sara and invites her to join the group on the condition that he pretends they have just met. At the diner, the group introduces themselves and orders food from Flo, a waitress who is dissatisfied with her job and her affair with the restaurant's owner, Don, to secure a better schedule. The group engages in various conversations, but tensions arise when Derek insults an overweight woman, upsetting Amy, while the others find it amusing. Derek and Jeremy begin to isolate and antagonize Amy, with Ian the only one to defend her. Amy leaves in a fit of anger, briefly returning to throw a bag at the group. Sara's friend Constance joins the group after spotting Sara through the window, and they continue their conversations, which include a minor argument with a man at another table. Jeremy spots a prominent female producer for whom he once auditioned and introduces himself. She drunkenly flirts with him and suggests a meeting the next day for a sexual encounter. As the group watches a woman slap her boyfriend during an argument, Derek becomes particularly silent. Jeremy presses him for details, leading Derek to reveal his discomfort rooted in his father's suicide, which he attributes to his mother's abuse. Derek retreats to the bar, followed by Sara, who empathizes with him due to her own familial struggles. The two begin to kiss at the bar, but Sara eventually pulls away, which briefly upsets Derek. He apologizes and asks to be left alone, but Sara becomes aggressive, leading to an argument that ends with Sara breaking down in the bathroom over her personal failures. Ian and Jeremy argue over Derek's trauma, and it escalates into a physical fight. Derek arrives and breaks it up. The group leaves the diner, walking down the street in high spirits, excited about another night at Don's Plum. Amy vandalizes Jeremy's car in retaliation, slashing his tires. Brad and Sara walk away together, with Brad expressing interest in seeing her again, while Ian and Juliette look forward to their next date. ==Cast==