A dealer in "outsider" art travels from Chicago to North Carolina to meet her new in-laws, challenging the equilibrium of this middle class Southern home.

When his wife unexpectedly informs him that she wants a divorce, well-meaning but oblivious husband Otto Wall finds himself thrust back into bachelorhood, where he searches for the real thing amidst a string of one night stands.

In a remote woodland cabin, a small-town doctor discovers Nell - a beautiful young hermit-woman with many secrets.