Stella lives with several other girls in a low-rent B&B belonging to her pimp, Mr Peters, who treats her with an unpredictable mixture of kindness and cruelty. She goes from one low-rent client to another, intermittently haunted by childhood flashbacks of her stand-up comedian father and her ultra-strict aunt.

When her best friend is attacked by local drug-dealer Fitz, Stella sets out to take revenge, accompanied by her new-found friend, a small-time hustler called Eddie. The two of them blow up Fitz’s car and make their escape. But Peters gets wind of Stella’s exploit and offers her a choice: to clean up her act and stay with him, or to leave. She decides to go …