British suburbanites Laurence and Beverly are entertaining their new neighbors, Angela and Tony as well as Susan, whose teenage daughter, Abigail is having a party to which Susan has been dis-invited. Over drinks and snacks, cliches and fatuous small talk abound.

The tension escalates as the marital strain between Beverly and Laurence surfaces. Susan's anxiety over Abigail's party accelerates as rock music and God-knows-what permeate the room. As Beverly and Angela offer some supremely tactless remarks, reality breaks through the smugness when Laurence collapses with a fatal heart attack.