Set in Seattle, Washington, this film follows the lives of a wealthy but dysfunctional American family. Sylvie Cooper (Sara Gilbert) is a misanthropic student at a private high school for the privileged. She befriends Ivy (Drew Barrymore), a poor but intelligent and seductive girl attending the school on a scholarship. Sylvie thinks Ivy is sweet but very different and they became best friends after wandering home one school day. Ivy’s actual name is unknown, as Sylvie based it on a tattoo on Ivy’s leg that depicts a crucifix covered with ivy. Clearly, Ivy becomes seduced by Sylvie’s wealthy and privileged home life and sets out to derail her family one by one. Ivy, naturally, steals the affections of Sylvie’s mother Georgie (Cheryl Ladd), to gain her trust. Georgie is convinced she is dying, and constantly spends her timed cooped up in her bedroom. It is Ivy that tells her that life is better lived.
It is then implied that Ivy has moved out of her disruptive home life and moved in with Sylvie. Before an important party, Ivy receives a call for Sylvie over her weekly musical lessons. Ivy, knowing it’s her father Darryl’s (Tom Skerritt) party, schedules the musical lessons for that exact day. This causes tension between daughter and father. During the party, Ivy openly flirts with Darryl — wearing Georgie’s red sequined dress. While in the kitchen after the party, Ivy is caught by Darryl dancing seductively, and Ivy and Darryl fall into a passionate embrace. They are then caught by Georgie, and Ivy dismisses it as a sympathy hug for Darryl, who was upset. Ivy then takes Georgie upstairs and gives her the medication. Georgie then falls asleep, and Ivy and Darryl felate each other in front of an unconscious Georgie. After this, Darryl and Ivy begin an intense love affair. While driving Ivy home in the rain, Darryl and Ivy make love on the top of Darryl’s Mercedes-Benz for the very first time in the rain.After a few weeks, Ivy finds Georgie attempting her suicide on the edge of a balcony in her bedroom. Ivy, knowing Georgie has attempted suicide for weeks, pushes Georgie off the edge, killing her. After her funeral, it is implied that Ivy and Sylvie have a relationship bordering lesbianism.
In the weeks that follow, Ivy and Sylvie go for a ride in her mother’s old Chevrolet Corvette. Ivy begins humming a tune that sounds eerily similar to the music that was playing in Georgie’s room the day she allegedly committed suicide. Sylvie then naturally questions over whether or not she was there and what she said. To avoid the potentially threatening conversation, Ivy crashes the car, causing Sylvie to be knocked unconscious. Ivy then places Sylvie in the driver’s seat to indicate to Darryl that Sylvie was driving without a license. When it becomes clear what Ivy has done, Sylvie is in hospital. She escapes, fearing Ivy may have gotten to Darryl. Upon returning, Sylvie finds Ivy and Darryl stimulating each other anally on the piano. Darryl chases after Sylvie to stop her from running away, yet slips. Ivy then follows Sylvie and asks her to be a “whole new family”. Sylvie and Ivy struggle on the edge of the balcony where Ivy pushed her mother, and Sylvie pushes Ivy into the balcony. Ivy is hanging onto Slyvie by her necklace which breaks, causing Ivy to fall to her death.