Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.
A young woman (Sandra Bullock) mysteriously disappears, sending her boyfriend Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland) on a years-long quest to find her. Not even a new love (Nancy Travis) can keep him from his obsessive search. All the while, the calculating psychopath (Jeff Bridges) who kidnapped his girlfriend stalks Jeff, ultimately taking him through the exact same steps that led to the crime. In order to find out what happened, Jeff must put his own life in the hands of this devious stranger.