The Chumscrubber - Plot

Plot

Set in the fictional town of Hillside, Southern California, the supplier of prescription medication to the students at the local high school, Troy Johnson (Josh Janowicz), commits suicide. Troy's best friend Dean Stiffle (Jamie Bell), is prescribed more antidepressants by his psychiatrist father Bill (William Fichtner) after finding the body. When Dean returns to school, he is antagonized by drug dealers Billy (Justin Chatwin) and Lee (Lou Taylor Pucci), who were supplied by Troy. Their friend Crystal Falls (Camilla Belle) flirts with Dean, but he soon realizes that her true intentions are for Dean to retrieve the remaining drugs in Troy's home and give them to her, Billy and Lee, and he refuses to cooperate. To force Dean to procure the drugs, Billy and Lee plan to kidnap Dean's brother, Charlie (Rory Culkin), as a ransom, but they end up kidnapping another boy named Charlie Bratley (Thomas Curtis) instead of Charlie Stiffle.

The kidnappers hold Charlie Bratley – whose parents are unaware that he is missing – overnight at Crystal's home, and Dean eventually agrees to go to Troy's house to find the drugs. Upon delivery, Billy discovers that the bag doesn't contain the correct drugs and starts a fight with Dean, leading to Dean's arrest. While trying to explain everything to Officer Lou Bratley (John Heard), who happens to be Charlie Bratley's father, Dean reveals that his brother Charlie replaced the drugs with a bag of the vitamins that their mother Allie (Allison Janney) sells. Neither Officer Bratley nor Dean's father believes his story, but he is released, whereupon his father increases the dosage of the antidepressants. Later, a flashback reveals that Charlie Stiffle crushed the real drugs and put them into a casserole that his mother was making for Troy's memorial.

The next day is Troy's memorial service and the wedding of Mayor Michael Ebbs (Ralph Fiennes) to Charlie Bratley's mother Terri (Rita Wilson). Lou finally realizes that his son actually had been kidnapped and heads out to look for him. Now at Lee's house, Crystal asks Lee to help stop the kidnapping scheme, but he does not comply. Crystal goes to Dean's house for help, where she finds him hallucinating about Troy's death and finally expressing his grief. Meanwhile, a paranoid Lee tries to stab and kill Charlie Bratley to avoid being caught, but Charlie fights back and slices the knife through Billy's eye. Billy runs out into the street, screaming in pain, and is hit by Lou's police car.

Dean attends Troy's memorial, where all of the visitors are intoxicated by the drugs that Charlie Stiffle put into his mother's casserole. Troy's mother, Carrie (Glenn Close), discloses to Dean that she never knew her son. Dean tells her about Troy, and she thanks him. Billy is later sent to prison, while Lee is acquitted. A closing voice over explains that Dean and Crystal "escape together", and they are shown kissing.