A striking young woman agrees to a housesitting job, inadvertently reads a spell, and soon cannot tell whether she is dreaming or awake.
Ren is feeling an existential angst and quits her job on a whim-which infuriates her artist boyfriend Trey. She then receives a phone call from her mother informing her that her eccentric aunt needs a house/dog-sitter for the weekend, and is willing to pay her. In need of a temporary cash cushion, this seems like an ideal quick fix. Ren asks her two best friends, Skye, the aspiring rock star, and Div, the free-love-for-all hippie and devoted fan of Skye's music, to accompany her there. The three old college friends then head to the somewhat rural area where the house is located (Ren has never been there). Ren soon notices some things are "off." Odd noises in the house, a strange atmosphere in the neighborhood, and Ren herself is seeing inexplicable things. As Ren digs around the house, she uncovers a journal and reads a bizarre bookmarked passage in it. That night she has a nightmare, where she hears peculiar noises from the basement, ventures down there to discover Skye and Div and their next-door neighbor, Core, engaged in a demonic ritual. They recite an eerie poem from Ren's childhood, "Blood Falls." Ren wakes up in a clammy sweat. She gets a call from her mother, who reassures her that all is well. Skye and Ren then have a heart to heart about what they want out of life; Skye alludes to the fact that Ren is maybe ungrateful for all she already has. Later that day, the ladies attempt to drive to town for supplies, but it seems they can't find a way out of the development. Things go dark for Ren-then they are suddenly back at the house. Ren is baffled. After another harrowing strange incident, Ren awakes, yet again. She pops some of her anti-anxiety pills, and now realizes something horrific: she is in a perpetual dream/nightmare, and cannot wake up.
Ren has to do something to essentially break this maddening pattern. She thinks this may stem from what she read in her aunt's journal. She suspects that her aunt is involved in witchcraft, and that by reading a spell she inadvertently unleashed a wicked force. As her friends try to help, Ren discovers some pamphlets that Div has brought along, about fighting "Addiction." Skye and Div seem to be staging an intervention, which Ren balks at. Ren is habitually plagued by more nightmarish sights: a rabid dog, a ghoulish man, a blood- filled tub, and another seance, where Skye and Div are Core's captors. Yet, the girls throw a tiny get-together that night to lighten things. Trey appears and is accidentally killed. Frantic, Ren finds Skye and Div to tell them, and they explain that Trey is fine: he was never there. Ren feels now that she is truly on the verge of a mental breakdown. Images in her mind paralyze her with dread: vivid reenactments of things that happened during the Salem witch trials in the 1600's play out in the basement. Ren attempts to flee the house once and for all on a bicycle; but it's all one large labyrinth that keeps bringing her right back. Ren's mother calls once more to assuage her fears.
Ren is then trapped, bound and left for dead in the basement. She must use a clue from her past to try to break herself free. Can Ren finally escape this horrific waking nightmare?
