A young jobless man, Johnny, rapes a girl in a Manchester alley and then travels to London to the street where his ex-girlfriend, Louise, lives. He meets Sophie, an unemployed Goth, who turns out to be one of Louise's flatmates and she takes him back to the flat where she flirts with him over tea and joints. Louise returns home from work and after an initially jokey reunion, Johnny turns on her for her “big shitty” pretentions and afterwards he has sex with Sophie. Meanwhile, in another part of the city, yuppie Jeremy takes his masseuse, Giselle, out for dinner and then back to his flat, where he turns violent. The next day, Sophie tells Johnny she loves him, but he becomes physically abusive and they end up having violent sex before he walks out with his belongings. In Soho, he meets homeless young Glaswegian Archie, who has lost his girlfriend Maggie. He offers to stay put while Archie searches for her; Maggie arrives and she and Johnny find Archie near some railway arches which is home to dossers. Leaving them arguing, Johnny finds a spot on an office porch to spend the night. Security guard Brian unlocks the door and invites him inside to keep him company. While touring the office, the two have a wide-ranging debate on life, the universe and everything and then watch a woman drunkenly dancing in the opposite flat. Johnny goes to the door and chats his way inside and starts agressively questioning her before turning violent, pulling at her hair and humiliating her. He leaves, stealing some books, and returns to Brian. The two men go to a café where Johnny chats up the waitress. Sophie returns to the flat to find Jeremy there, posing as her landlord, Sebastian Hawkes. He turns violent, forcing her to put on a nurse's uniform before raping her. Louise arrives home to find Jeremy throwing £400 at Sophie, but although she is deeply shaken, Sophie refuses to tell Louise what has happened.