In 1967, Susanna Kaysen has a headache and chases a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. This lands her in the mental institution Claymoore, where Dr. Melvin Potts diagnoses her with borderline personality disorder. When she arrives at Claymoore Nurse Valerie Owens greets her and shows her around the women's ward where she meets Georgina Tuskin, a pathological liar fixated on "The Wizard of Oz"; Polly Clark, a childish schizophrenic; Janet Webber, a sardonic anorexic patient; Daisy Randone who won't let anyone into her room and only eats her father's chicken; and Lisa Rowe, a sociopath who controls the other patients and makes the Claymoore nurses' lives hell. Through the movie, Lisa gains and loses control over Susanna and shows how bad she can be. How long will Susanna last at Claymoore and how does she take back control of her life? This movie battles subjects such as mental heath, abuse, self-harm and suicide.