Set in the future, the film focuses on Arnold Mosk, a high-school student caught abusing drugs. When he's put in a controversial isolation program nicknamed "The Animal Room," his life is threatened. It's a classroom where no rules apply. Arnold is terrorized by the Animal Room's gang leader, Doug Van Housen. When Arnold's childhood friend, Gary, a popular school athlete, tries to save him, all involved are caught in a cycle of violence.