Atticus, a struggling alcoholic goes to his local bar after moving to Boston. The bartender, Bo, throws him out under dubious circumstances. Atticus returns, trying to make friends. He meets Tug, the bouncer that throws someone out of the bar with glee. He walks home and finds a shadowy figure waiting for him as he walks up Joy Street.
Atticus makes friends with one of the bartenders who invites him to attend her birthday at a bowling alley. Atticus meets Mitch, a young graduate student whom someone had previously mistook him for. He assumes it’s his doppelganger. Atticus leaves, concerned with his own bad luck.
Mike, another bartender, approaches Atticus about going to a baseball game. Atticus accepts the opportunity to make more friends out of loneliness. Atticus agrees to buy the tickets to the game.
Atticus sees the first signs of deception in another patron of the bar who walks past him down the street with black teeth. Still, he can’t resist the urge to go to The Hill Tavern. He talks to Bo at the bar. Bo is tempted to tell him something, but narrowly avoids the revelation that Atticus is looking for. Another patron reveals that Mike destroys lives without giving any details, taunting Atticus.
Atticus gets into a brief argument with another customer that he doesn’t recognize. Mike is reluctant to assist, even as they are heading to the game. Atticus and Mike get off the subway on the way to Fenway Park to watch the baseball game. They go to the dark bar at the Dug Out. Mike takes Atticus’s phone to download an app that allows him to track Atticus. They arrive at The Hill Tavern where Atticus meets a shady woman, whom Atticus is both interested in and cautious of.
Atticus returns to The Hill Tavern to receive warm signs of affection from Mike. Thinking he might now be fitting in, Atticus starts dictating events at the bar to his confusion. The bouncer and, as Atticus finds out, the local drug dealer, Tug, increasingly takes an interest in Atticus’s comings and goings.
Atticus tries to figure out why Mike is constantly wiping down the bar, and then turning to him to complain. Laura tries to tell Atticus to leave, but she is surrounded by her coworkers and friends, who have decided Atticus is their next victim.
Atticus learns that Tug is paying off the cops and that’s why he never gets caught. Atticus tries to save himself by telling Tug he won’t come back anymore after a football game he’s going to with Mike. In desperation, Atticus starts insulting other customers, watching the staff’s reaction. He goes to the bar one day to find Mitch, his doppelganger, with black teeth, in tears. Another customer informs him that it was supposed to be him.
He goes to the bar the Saturday before the game, and he finds the staff waiting for him. He leaves, fearing what they are planning, but knowing he can’t stay. He goes to the game the next day with Mike, not knowing what to expect. Mike makes several revelations in the car, but he doesn’t give Atticus the information he is looking for. Days later, Mike shouts “black tooth”, and Atticus knows his friend had intended to betray him all along.
Atticus had already agreed to leave. He tries to keep his routine of going to work, but he’s eventually forced to leave when the bar Manager’s demented brother waits outside his apartment with another unknown individual. Atticus out-waits them and leaves.
He eventually escapes in a rental car. He stops at an AirBnB, hoping he’ll be safe. At night he hears voices. He leaves and deletes the app Mike had previously downloaded on his phone.
Bedraggled, he arrives at a hotel hoping for sleep, only to find his door bolt lock doesn’t work. In his paranoia, he leaves to find someone in his car sitting outside his room. He tries to see the person’s face, but he decides he should drive into the night.