1996 – Owen (Ian Foreman as a kid, Justice Smith as 14 and older) is a lonely young boy who doesn’t fit in with the other kids in his class. His older self narrates to the viewer about how he lives with his mother Brenda (Danielle Deadwyler) and father Frank (Fred Durst). Owen is seen staring at a television screen, captivated by a television series called “The Pink Opaque”, a fantasy program involving teenage protagonists Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan), who battle monsters in a mysterious realm.
Owen is 12 years old in 7th grade. He approaches a 9th grader named Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), who is reading a guide book to “The Pink Opaque”. They slowly bond over the series, with Owen finding the lore of the show rather complex, but he still ends up becoming obsessed with the show and finds it to be his solace from the outside world.
Owen asks Brenda if he can have a sleepover at another kid’s house, not telling her he is going to Maddy’s house to watch more of “The Pink Opaque” with her friend Amanda (Emma Portner). They watch an episode involving a monstrous-looking ice cream man. Later after Amanda leaves, Maddy lets Owen stay but has him sleep in the basement hidden for fear that her abusive stepfather might do something.
1998 – Owen is now in 9th grade. Brenda has gotten sick with a terminal illness, and Owen worries about living with Frank since they do not have a close relationship and Frank doesn’t understand his son’s interests. Owen approaches Maddy by the bleachers at school, where he learns that she stopped talking to Amanda because a rumor was spread that Maddy touched Amanda’s breast and she has now joined the cheer squad. Maddy still watches “The Pink Opaque” to escape her reality. She also lets Owen know that she likes girls, and when she asks him what he likes, he simply says he likes TV shows.
Owen’s parents enforce a curfew that prevents him from hanging out with Maddy, so she tapes episodes of the show for him and gives him detailed summaries and descriptions of the show’s mythology. After he is all caught up, Owen visits Maddy so they can watch the last episode together.
The next morning, Maddy decides she is going to run away from home since she feels she can no longer live there. She invites Owen to join her and comes up with a plan for him to sneak out, but he chooses not to join her. Owen narrates that the following year, Brenda succumbs to her illness. Within the same month, Maddy disappeared from home without a trace, with only a burning television left in her backyard. Not long after, “The Pink Opaque” is canceled.
2007 – Owen now works in a movie theater. He accidentally walks in on his manager having sex with another employee, then later offers to get Owen in with her, but he does not connect with anybody at his job. He still lives with Frank and supports him. While walking home from work, he sees an odd vision of what looks like TVs stacked on top of one another with wiring sticking out while static plays. There are also burnt pages of a guide to “The Pink Opaque”.
At the grocery store, Maddy finds Owen after a long time away. He goes to hug her, and she tells him they need to talk privately. They go to a bar and watch a musical performance (featuring Phoebe Bridgers and the band, Sloppy Jane) while Maddy tries to explain her whereabouts to Owen. She asks him if he has begun to experience a distortion of reality, where he cannot tell his real life from what he sees on TV. Maddy tells him that she has been inside the world of “The Pink Opaque” and can help Owen get there too. She asks if he remembers what happened in the final episode.
Owen goes home and rewatches the show’s last episode. In it, the show’s villain, Mr. Melancholy (also Emma Portner), a sinister being with a face and head like the moon, has kidnapped Tara and cut her heart out. Isabel is also taken, where she is poisoned and imprisoned in Mr. Melancholy’s realm after she is buried alive. Suddenly, Owen becomes horrified and appears to be pulling himself inside the television before Frank pulls him out.
Owen revisits Maddy in an inflatable star dome, where she delivers a monologue explaining how she tried to live a normal life, but she kept feeling stuck and alone no matter where she was. She paid another teenager to bury her alive, which is how she was able to enter “The Pink Opaque” and pick up where the show ended. Maddy brings Owen to a football field where she invites him to join her by being buried alive, but he shoves her down and runs away, where he goes home to find Frank suffering a stroke. Owen then narrates that he never saw Maddy again after that.
2010 – The movie theater closes down, and Owen’s manager brings him to the fun center in town. Frank passes away after a second stroke, leaving Owen alone in the same house. He then decides to rewatch “The Pink Opaque” now that it is available for streaming, but when he watches the episode with the ice cream monster, it is a lot cheaper and cheesier than Owen remembers.
2030 – Owen is now in his 40s, appearing frail and sickly because he cannot afford his medication. He joins his coworkers for a birthday party celebration for a group of kids, but he suffers a breakdown and screams hysterically before yelling nonsensically. Owen locks himself in the bathroom while his manager tries to calm him down. Owen has another vision where he cuts his chest open with a box cutter and pulls it open, revealing images of “The Pink Opaque” inside him. He then walks back out onto the floor, apologizing to the patrons for his freakout, but nobody seems to hear or notice him.
