Jerome goes to art school in the hopes of having his genuine ability recognized. Instead he finds that his teachers are self-obsessed has-beens and his peers are jaded and floundering. To make matters worse, Jerome finds himself being investigated for a series of gruesome stranglings. He becomes obsessed with a lovely student named Audrey, but she is more interested in the hunky Jonah, whose crude yet acclaimed paintings of cars and tanks make Jerome want to tear his own eyes out.