Jill, a lonely, unfulfilled housewife with four children, paces on her dining room table with a belt around her neck, contemplating a desperate end. Her husband, Bill, focused on his identity as breadwinner and an affair with a lusty co-worker, is as oblivious to Jill's growing terror that she will do something destructive as he is to the panic at his unraveling company. Meanwhile, dogs bark and howl through the night, as one persistent mutt continually stalks the family's yard. When Jill's psyche finally breaks, she takes on a vicious new canine persona, and Bill is forced to become reacquainted with his children and sister-in-law as they attempt to keep the family together during this bizarre crisis.