DANNY, despondent over the death of his parents, MARTHA, escaping an abusive relationship, and SEAN, mourning the death of a lover, wander through the seedier side of San Francisco's nightlife. They meet by chance, and instantly connect. The threesome move into a posh loft located in San Francisco's Chinatown, paid for by Danny's enormous inheritance.

While enjoying the good life, the three become inseparable. Their bond is threatened when ALEX, Martha's ex-husband shows up and convinces her to go back to Oakland with him. Sean gets a taste of Alex's violent side when he has a confrontation with him.

Danny and Sean immediately track her down and convince her to come back. She agrees but fears Alex will come looking for her. They hideout at a vineyard Danny inherited. The lighthouse at the vineyard offers few comforts and Martha braves the storm to get more supplies from the car. Suddenly, Martha screams as she feels someone grabbing her. She manages to escape but is sure Alex has found her. Her screams bring Danny and Sean running. Grabbing rocks and branches as their only weapons, the men start swinging. With wind and rain pounding, Danny and Sean make a terrible mistake. The shadowy figure falls and they realize the intruder isn't Alex. In fact they don't know who he is. The only sure thing is that the man is dead.

It was an accident, but in the small seaside town who'd believe three out-of-towners mistakenly clubbed a man to death? Reeling with shock and fear, they throw the corpse off the cliff into the pounding surf below. The three swear to never reveal the truth of what has happened that night. Guilt ridden, tension runs high between the three as they drive back to Chinatown.

Paranoia replaces their former bliss. Anything one of three does is analyzed by the other two. They separate into constantly shifting camps. The investigation started by Detective Keen into the murder has each one wondering who will cave in first and confess.

The threesome begin to question each other. Did Danny's parents really die in an accident or is there a more sinister explanation. Were they killed for the inheritance? Was Sean's appearance in Danny's life a mere coincidence or a skillfully planned scheme? And is Martha innocent in this game or is she the one who could mastermind a plan that is manipulating them all.

Detective Keen digs deeper. Martha and Sean are particularly concerned when Keen calls frequently and leaves messages that he is returning Danny's call. Danny is behaving erratically, shutting himself off to the world or having hallucinations. Martha and Sean blame it on the anti-depressants that Danny is taking.

Paranoia runs rampant. Sean finds Martha in Danny's medicine cabinet. If she were just looking for a sleeping pill, why did she look so guilty? Martha tells Sean she found Danny's journal and realizes Danny is about to turn them all in. Keen is closing in on them. The threesome see him at every turn…waiting, just waiting for them to trip up.

In a tragic climax, Sean and Martha confront Danny about his journal and accuse him of betraying the secrecy they all swore too. Danny backs away from them…closer and closer to the ledge of the balcony. Too late, Danny slips. Sean reaches out and is able to grab his arm as Danny dangles over the edge. Sean turns to look at Martha, who without looking at Danny nods. Sean lets go and Danny plunges to his death.

After Danny's funeral, Martha and Sean pack up their meager belongings from the loft and part ways. Sean never expects to see her again…it's too painful.

Weeks later he settles into his own place. He unpacks the few boxes that are all that remain from that time in his life. He comes across an unfamiliar item. A photo album that must have belonged to Danny. He's see pictures of Danny and his brother Mickey. Danny had told them a little about Mickey. Black sheep of the family and disowned, Mickey wasn't entitled to any inheritance when his parents died. Upon closer inspection of the photo, Sean realizes he has seen Mickey before…it's Alex, Martha's ex-husband.

Sean begins to unravel the brilliant scheme…Martha played them all right from the beginning. Sean finds an address for her and goes there to confront her. Imagine his surprise when Detective Keen answers the door.
Turns out Keen isn't a Detective at all but is really Martha's father who has helped her scheme by adding pressure playing the Detective. Martha played it all along right down to substituting Emitrax, a drug which when taken with anti depressants can cause a person to feel suicidal. She covered all her bases including later killing Alex/Mickey after he had received the inheritance from Danny's estate. The police were quick to buy her story; after all, she had filed police reports of spousal abuse before. The homicide was ruled self defense. In the end, Martha alone was left with Danny's vast fortune.

That only left Sean…are Martha and her father worried about him? Not really…after all, who let go of Danny when he was hanging off the balcony, and then there is the matter of that man who was bludgeoned to death in the vineyard.

This is Chinatown. Everyone has an agenda. Nothing is as it seems. And one wrong move can spell disaster.