I: Cutting Moments
Married couple Patrick and Sarah live in a suburban subdivision along with their young son, Joey. The couple have an emotionally distant marriage devoid of intimacy. Meanwhile, Patrick sexually abuses Joey on a regular basis, which Sarah is aware of.
Authorities suspect Patrick's abuse of Joey. Sarah tells Patrick that she has spoken to a lawyer, who suggests he will soon be taken from them by child protective services. Desperate for Patrick's affection, Sarah dons a red dress and applies lipstick, hoping for Patrick to notice her. The attempt fails, as she goes unnoticed by Patrick, who continues to watch a sports game and ignore her. Using a scouring pad, Sarah scrubs her lips until they are raw and bleeding before cutting them off with a pair of scissors.
A mutilated Sarah approaches Patrick, who responds to her self-mutilation. The two engage in violent mutilation and sex, in which a tearful Patrick cuts off Sarah's breasts with garden shears before cutting off his own penis. The couple bleed to death lying on top of one another.
II: Home
Gary, a troubled young man, reflects on his upbringing under his domineering, abusive father who tormented him and his mother. Gary dealt with his childhood trauma through self-harm, flagellating himself with a belt. As an adult, Gary becomes a devout Christian. He meets Helen at a party, and the two eventually marry and have a daughter, Cassandra.
A mentally-unstable Gary eventually murders Helen and Cassandra. Covered in blood, he sits on his front porch, reflecting how he feels his father's presence, sobbing.
Prologue
In a rural farming community, a young woman named Billy returns home after recovering from a violent attack in which her hands were dismembered. Billy, who was a missing person during her brutalization, has no memory of the incident or her attacker. Billy is fitted with prosthetic hook arms.
Meanwhile, middle-aged couple Benjamin and Joan reside in the same community on their farm. Their daughter, Angela, has been absent for an extended period. Joan runs into an acquaintance, Jimmy, on the street, and tells him Angela has been living in London. Later at home, Joan confesses to Benjamin that she lied to Jimmy about Angela's whereabouts.
While visiting the local post office with her father, Billy fixates on the United States Postal Service emblem on the uniform of a school classmate, Jeff; well as a photograph on the wall of Benjamin, a retired employee—the experience triggers a repressed memory in which Billy realizes Benjamin was her attacker. Later that day, Billy arrives at Benjamin and Joan's farmhouse. She silently confronts Benjamin on the front steps and begins to pull back her hook arm to strike him, but stops when he recoils and begins crying. After Billy leaves, Joan remarks that Benjamin told her Angela's death was an accident. He does not respond. Outside, Joan approaches Benjamin with a rifle. He confesses to murdering Angela, disfiguring Billy, and committing other serial murders. She tells him she knows, before walking away with Angela's teddy bear.
Later, outside the post office, Joan approaches Billy on the street, where she offers her Angela's teddy bear before walking away. Billy witnesses a young girl playing in the street, and offers her the teddy bear, which she takes. Back at Benjamin and Joan's farmhouse, Joan sobs after vandalizing the home. Outside in the fields, Benjamin quietly digs a grave.
