Lost and Delirious - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

When shy and introspective Mary arrives as a new student at an all-girls boarding school, she shares a dorm room with Paulie and Victoria (nicknamed Tori). In contrast to the timid Mary, outspoken Paulie is full of life. For example, at one point she turns a quiet afternoon on the campus into a music-blasting dance party and spikes the punch. In an effort to break Mary out of her shell, Paulie and Tori involve her in their activities, such as running in the morning. When Mary's roommates learn that her mother recently died, Paulie nicknames her "Mary Brave."

Mary observes the intimacy between her two roommates. Peering out a window at night, she sees them kissing on a roof. She notes the closeness of Paulie and Tori's relationship. At first, she thinks that they are practicing kissing in order to prepare themselves for kissing males. She then realises the nature of their romance. This also manifests itself in Paulie coming to Tori's rescue. For example, Paulie defends Victoria from a frustrated math teacher who unintentionally humiliates her when she does not understand a mathematical equation.

Over time, Paulie and Tori become more comfortable showing affection in front of Mary. It progresses from a quick kiss on the lips in front of her to the two sharing a bed while they think Mary is sleeping. At first, Mary is shy about sharing a room with the two lovers and feels like an intruder. After a few days, she finds their kissing and murmuring comforting and familiar.

When the three are running one day, Paulie comes across a hurt falcon, which she befriends. After reading up on falcons, she trains the animal and becomes obsessed with caring for it as she believes that something untoward has happened to its parents. While Paulie tends to the orphaned falcon, Mary and Tori meet some boys from the nearby boys' school. One of the boys, Jake, flirts with Tori, asking if she will be attending her brother's 18th birthday party and making it clear that he is interested in her. When Mary and Tori are alone, Tori expresses disgust at the boy's interest in her, saying, "He liked my tits." When Mary asks if she'll go to the party, Tori says, "And have all those gross guys groping me? No, thanks. I'd rather stay home and do math."

One morning, Victoria's sister, Allison (Emily VanCamp), and her friends rush into the room to wake up the older girls. Paulie is lying in Tori's bed, both naked. Allison and the other girls are shocked. Mary pushes Tori's sister out of the room and closes the door. After the younger girls leave, Tori, her head in her hands, decides at that moment to end whatever intimate relationship she had with Paulie, who claims that she loves her. Tori refuses outright, saying, 'No! You don't know Allison. She'll get hysterical and tell my dad.' Tori then angrily tells Paulie to get out of her bed. Paulie tries to downplay the situation, and Tori tells her she does not understand, explaining that her sister will tell her parents about it. When confronted by Allison, Tori tries to extinguish her sister's suspicions by telling her Paulie has an unrequited crush on her and crawled into her bed. Her sister promises to "fix" the rumors about Tori and not tell their parents anything. As she walks away from this conversation, Victoria collapses into tears.

In the library, Victoria explains to Mary that her family, her parents and her sister, are strongly opposed to homosexuality, and she must stop the relationship to prevent their rejection. Mary sympathizes with both of her friends, as she too feels rejected by her father, who does not bother to show up to a father/daughter dance. In the forest at night, Tori and Jake have sex against a tree. Both Mary and Paulie accidentally witness this scene and run back to their room before Tori returns.

When Tori returns to the room, Paulie asks her where she's been and Tori says she was with a friend. Paulie lashes out at her by telling her that she saw what Tori and Jake were doing in the woods. In a very poignant moment, Tori tells Paulie that the intimacy that they had shared will never happen again but she (Tori) would always love her.

Paulie degenerates into psychotic behavior over Tori's withdrawal from the relationship. She smashes a mirror and hurls a dish cart to the ground and begins to act out in other ways. A rejection letter from the agency that handled Paulie's adoption, which informs her that her birth mother denied a request from Paulie to get in touch, further sends her over the edge. Meanwhile, Victoria creates an image of heterosexuality to her friends and her sister, dating Jake Hollander (Luke Kirby) from a nearby all-boys school and avoiding Paulie.

Paulie declares a duel to the death with Jake. Jake is not taking her seriously until he ends up on the ground, with Paulie brandishing a sword above him. She demands that he give up Tori. When he refuses, she stabs him in the leg. Mary rushes to stop her and Paulie runs off. Mary runs to Victoria's soccer match, where the headmistress, math teacher and fellow students are congregated. Upon reaching the group, Mary sees Paulie, sobbing from the top of a building while holding her falcon. Whispering "I rush into the secret house," a reference to Shakespeare on suicide, Paulie jumps to her death and the movie ends with the falcon flying in the background.