Vuong provides a sweeping introduction to East Gladness, Connecticut before honing in on Hai, the protagonist who is about to commit suicide. Hai's plan to jump off a bridge is interrupted when an elderly lady struggling with her laundry calls out to him. She threatens to call the police unless he gets off the bridge. They introduce themselves, and Hai ends up spending the night at her house. The woman, whose name is Grazina, collects owl-themed objects, stomps on dinner rolls to induce happiness, and sings to herself in the middle of the night. She proposes that Hai live with her in exchange for helping her remember to take her medication. Weeks pass. Hai comforts Grazina one night when her medication fails to prevent a traumatic flashback that transports her back to World War II. When household funds run low, Hai walks to HomeMarket, where his cousin Sony works, to ask for a job. BJ, the manager, hires Hai and he undergoes training. Grazina gifts Hai her husband's old collection of books. As the weeks pass, Hai gets to know his coworkers. Russia, who takes drive-thru orders, saves his money to put his sister through rehab. Wayne roasts and carves the chickens, looking after his dogs outside of work. Maureen is an elderly conspiracy theorist who deals with an arthritic knee and grieves for her son, who passed away years before. BJ nurses an ambition to be a professional wrestler and musical performer. Sony saves money to bail his mother out of jail, all the while fixating on his passion for Civil War history as a means to process things.
As Hai closes the restaurant one night, a retired detective comes in asking if Hai has information about an unsolved murder of a girl named Rachel Miotti. This horrific crime, which happened near HomeMarket, never gets solved. Hai adopts a persona called Sergeant Pepper to engage in role-play war games with Grazina. Maureen and Hai drive to exchange food with another fast-casual franchise. Maureen shares about her belief in conspiracy theories. During another shift, the crew calls emergency services when a woman named Cookie overdoses in the bathroom. The store is overrun with customers the day before Thanksgiving. Sony spends Thanksgiving with Hai and Grazina. Hai recalls a family road trip during which they toured Stonewall Jackson's home.
Grazina tells Hai about her childhood friend named Marta, who was taught how to swim by a boy who drowned. While in a state of confusion, Grazina gives Hai thousands of dollars that her husband left her. After a challenging shift, Hai admires Russia while they smoke cigarettes and tell stories. Russia recounts seeing his brother's friend on meth and also a story he grew up hearing about a man who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Hai pockets three bottles of Dilaudid that he finds in Grazina's house. The reason Hai dropped out of school and spiraled into his addiction was because his closest friend Noah (who may also be his boyfriend) died of an overdose soon after Hai's grandmother died. Hai, Russia, and Maureen agree to help Wayne pack meat for extra cash one Sunday only to find out that the job includes killing the animals. Hai accompanies Sony to a psychiatrist appointment. The crew watches BJ perform her heavy metal singing a few days before Christmas Eve. Though Hai intends to use Grazina's money to help pay his Aunt Kim's bail, he ultimately cannot because of the ambiguous circumstances of Grazina's gift.
Hai and Grazina visit her son Lucas and his family on Christmas Eve. Hai notices the disrespectful way that Lucas's family treats Grazina. The visit deeply upsets Grazina, and she is particularly upset by the news that Lucas wants her to move into assisted living. Back at HomeMarket, BJ announces that they will now sell pizza bagels. The crew attends BJ's musical performance and wrestling competition. Though she wins, the crowd expresses disappointment. BJ later orders a pizza from a place next door to HomeMarket. The girl who delivers it shouts at the crew for stealing business by selling pizza bagels. BJ assists a freezing homeless man by warming him up and preparing him a HomeMarket meal. Hai and Sony visit Sony's mother in jail. She reveals to Hai that Sony's father is actually dead. On another night, Hai has a sexual encounter with a HomeMarket regular named Tom. A regional manager shows up at HomeMarket one day, and Hai overhears him demand that BJ fire an employee. When Hai comes home one night to an empty house, he finds out from Lucas that Grazina is in the hospital. Hai visits Grazina and opens up about his relationship with Noah. Hai remembers Sony's obsession with the Civil War stemming from identifying with the South, which lost.
Hai calls out of work and gets high on painkillers while he waits for Grazina to return. An enraged Lucas shows up with a counselor, intending to move his mother into assisted living. Grazina (with Hai's help) refuses. Sony is fired when Vogel pressures BJ. Wayne, Maureen, and Russia try to organize a shift pool, but Sony runs out in distress. Hai follows Sony, who heads to Vermont, seeking his father. Sony shocks Hai by revealing he knows his father is dead. Sony still intends to go to Vermont to retrieve the diamond he believes to be embedded in his father's hand. BJ, Maureen, Sony, Hai, and Grazina embark on the quest. At Devil's Leap State Park, they find the site where Minh's car caught fire. All that remains is part of a burnt headrest. The group comforts Sony when he breaks down. Once back at home, Grazina and Hai spend their final day together eating and watching TV. They make a night outing to a local cafe and witness salamanders crawling outside for spring mating. Social Services is slated to arrive the next day. Hai unravels when he notices that Lucas arrived early with a police officer. Hai encourages Grazina to escape on her motorized scooter. She gifts him money in a moment of lucidity. Lucas and a nurse take hold of Grazina. Before they leave, Hai tells Lucas to buy his mother Stouffer's Salisbury steak dinners. In the wake of Grazina's absence, Hai walks to HomeMarket and gives Sony the money to bail his mother out of jail. He then climbs into a nearby dumpster and speaks to his mother on the phone while having a surreal (and perhaps drug-induced) experience.
