Wren is a
runaway from New Jersey who has come to New York City in the hopes of becoming a figure in the
punk rock scene, only to find that the movement is now centered in Los Angeles. Wren finds herself relegated to sneaking into the city's remaining punk hot spot, the Peppermint Lounge, to ingratiate herself with the bands that play there, in the hopes that one of them will take her on as a groupie. She also engages in a campaign to litter the city with photocopied pictures of herself bearing the legend "WHO IS THIS?" in an attempt to generate mystique. Although she works part-time at a
Xerox shop by day, Wren mostly uses her position there surreptitiously to print her fliers, and she supplements her lifestyle by mugging women in the subway. Wren runs across Paul, a young man from Montana in the middle of a road trip who has briefly taken up residence in the city before heading to New Hampshire. Although he sleeps in the back of his dilapidated van, Paul has saved enough money to otherwise live comfortably. When Paul expresses interest in Wren, she agrees to date him, but she's emotionally abusive and makes it clear to Paul that she's more interested in the stability he can offer her. On a date, the couple meet Eric, former member of Smithereens, a
one-hit-wonder punk group from one decade earlier. Although he's now unemployed and living in the apartment of another punk named Billy, Eric professes to be putting together a new group that will be headed to Los Angeles. Wren leaves Paul to move in with Eric, but she's forced to leave after a confrontation with a nameless, blonde woman who also lives in the apartment. Returning to her apartment, Wren discovers that her roommates have fled in her absence and that her landlady has locked her out. Wren visits her brother and sister-in-law in an attempt to get a loan, but they decline on the grounds that Wren has cheated them in the past. With nowhere to go, Wren returns to Paul and coaxes him into helping her break into her old apartment to retrieve her things. The two resume an uneasy relationship, and Paul allows Wren to sleep in the back of his van at night. Eric finds Wren and tells her that they are set to go to Los Angeles, but that they need money to afford transportation and food en route. With Wren's help, Eric robs a wealthy man, Ed, at gunpoint after trapping him in a taxi. Finding that they've made enough money to go to Los Angeles, Eric sends Wren to collect her things from Paul's van. Returning to Eric's apartment, Wren learns from Billy that Eric has taken all of their money and gone to Los Angeles by himself. Confronting the nameless, blonde woman in the stairwell, Wren learns that she is Eric's wife and that he has a history of picking up vulnerable women to exploit for his own financial gain. Attempting to reunite with Paul, Wren learns that he sold his van to a local
pimp and used the money to continue his road trip. Looking inside the van, Wren discovers that Paul left behind a watercolor portrait he'd done of her. Now homeless, Wren wanders the city until she's propositioned by a man in a convertible. Although she initially dismisses the man's advances, his admonishment that she has nowhere else to go causes her to stop and look back toward his car. ==Cast==