The year is 1975, and the fanciest high-rise tower block in the city now looks like an absolute mess.
Robert finds a dog hiding in the garbage that fills the hallways and takes it with him. While
searching the garbage for any leftovers, he finds Steele, who invites him to drink with his already
dead friend Cosgrove. Since he can’t find anything to eat, Robert ends up roasting the dog's leg.
This all started three months ago. Robert moves into the high-rise tower with all his boxes,
admiring all the wonderful things the building has to offer. The parking lot is full of all the cars
from the tenants, making it easy for pigeons to poop on the men that are leaving for work.
Pangbourne becomes the pigeon’s latest victim, and Talbot makes fun of him for it. One morning,
Robert is sunbathing with no clothes on his balcony when suddenly his neighbor Charlotte drops
her liquor bottle onto his floor. This scares Robert, but Charlotte uses the chance to admire
his body and flirt a little as she invites Robert to her party in the evening. Her friend Wilder
comes closer to say that he hasn't bought her a birthday gift yet, but Charlotte pushes him away,
insisting that he's not her type. She also tells him to go to work, but Wilder explains that he's
not drunk enough to do art, blaming it on his wife being too depressed to feed him. Later, Robert
goes to the building’s spa to have a massage. When the masseuse wonders if he has any family,
Robert shares that his sister died recently. Afterward, he stops by the garbage chute, which
has a warning saying that large bags belong in another area, but Robert drops his bag in anyway.
Then Robert heads to the School of Physiology, where he is a teacher. For today’s class,
he starts dissecting a human head, which disgusts his students so much that Munrow faints. In the
evening, Robert goes to Charlotte's party and chats with Wilder's pregnant wife Helen. Suddenly
Steele shows up and begins scolding Robert for clogging the chute earlier. Robert apologizes,
but Steele stays mad. To get him off their backs, Helen points out that Steele's wife is going into
the bathroom with Cosgrove, so Steele rushes to intervene. Afterward Helen watches her husband
flirt with Charlotte, which makes Robert feel awkward, but Helen just ends up excusing herself.
The party carries on with lots of drinking and adults chatting while Charlotte's son Toby watches
from his room. The next day, Robert calls the hospital to excuse himself from work and joins
Charlotte at a pool party with Helen, her kids, and the middle to lower-floor tenants. However
Robert refuses to get in a swimsuit. Suddenly he’s approached by Simmons, who announces that
the building’s architect wants to see him. Robert is taken to the building’s amazing penthouse and
meets Royal, who explains that he wants to build four more similar buildings around the nearby lake
to make them look like an open hand with the lake as the palm. The blueprint makes Robert think that
it looks like a psychic event. Next, Royal shares that he had a car accident, but Robert immediately
explains that he isn’t a physiotherapist so he can’t help Royal with his injury. In the end,
Royal invites Robert to a game of squash and to his wife's party the day after tomorrow. On his
way to the elevator, Robert notices a painting in the dining hall and finds Royal's wife Ann trying
to fix the air conditioning. Robert offers to help, only to end up breaking it more. Later in
the evening, Robert has dinner with Charlotte and they end up getting intimate on top of her balcony
table. Charlotte explains that Royal never invited someone over since his accident, so Robert getting
to see him was very unusual. She also knows that Robert’s sister died, saying that she learned it
because all the walls have ears. Their fun time is suddenly interrupted by Toby, but thankfully
the babysitter quickly appears to take him to bed. Afterward Charlotte tells Robert that they’re done
with their date. The next day, Robert goes to the grocery market and comes across a beautiful woman
named Jane, who offers him an autograph. However he doesn't recognize who she is,
so she walks away, obviously offended. Then Robert asks the cashier about Jane and learns that she's
a famous actress. After Robert leaves, the store’s power connection begins failing. In the evening,
Robert goes to Ann's party wearing his usual suit, only to discover that it's an 18th-century
costume party, which makes him feel out of place. Pangbourne is chatting with Munrow's parents but
also overhears Ann and Jane gossiping about him, so Pangbourne comments on how Royal seems to want
to colonize the sky. Robert tries to join the conversation, but Ann isn’t happy to see him and
makes fun of his clothes. Everyone starts laughing at him, and soon Simmons comes to throw Robert out
as he judges him for having brought a cheap wine. The elevator begins going down only to suddenly
stop when the power goes out. Robert tries to use the controls but ends up breaking them instead,
so he just drops on the floor to wait to be rescued. The next day during their squash game,
Royal asks Robert for the full story of the incident and apologizes as he explains that
the building is still settling so it still has some flaws. Robert has heard a rumor saying that
floors one to twelve lost their power for several hours, but Royal pays it no mind. Instead, Royal
asks Robert about his relationship with Charlotte, but when his rude comments make Robert angry,
he quickly changes the subject to share a theory: the tenants have forced themselves into strict
categories and hide behind luxuries. When Robert points out that Royal designed the building that
way by keeping the upper-class and the lower-class residents separated, Royal defends his plan by
saying that he designed the building to become a path to change, but he does admit that he must've
missed something. Sometime later, the lower floor tenants complain about the lack of power,
and when the caretaker says it’s their fault for overloading the system, Wilder reminds him that
they bought better conditions than this. However the caretaker counterattacks by reminding Wilder
that he is behind payments so he isn’t in a position to demand anything. Afterward while
Wilder is having a smoke, Robert tries to explain that it's pointless to get Royal's attention over
their situation and even admits he pities the old man, which Wilder finds ridiculous. Meanwhile
Helen is stuck at home with the children, and when the news reports a prison riot,
she switches the channel to prevent her kids from seeing it. At the medical school, Robert receives
Munrow's medical reports revealing that he's in perfect health. However since Robert thinks
his student is too arrogant, he decides to teach him a lesson and tells him he has a brain tumor,
which leaves Munrow speechless. Some days later, Wilder throws a huge party full of very loud
kids as a way to protest against the building's inequality. He also thinks that the only reason
someone from the middle-class floors like Robert has befriended them is to keep the lower tenants
quiet. When Helen mentions that their kids were banned from the pool for being too noisy,
Wilder gets furious and gathers the children to take them to the pool anyway, where they crash a
party thrown by the upper class. Meanwhile Toby and Robert share stories about their families.
Robert says that he hadn’t been the kind of son his father could be proud of, while Toby reveals
that his birth father actually lives on the upper floors. Then Robert tries to take Toby home, but
since the elevators aren’t working, they decide to take the stairs. There they bump into Simmons,
who calls Robert a social climber. Suddenly, the power goes out in the entire building,
including Royal's penthouse. The upper-class tenants decide to leave the pool but first they
make sure to threaten Wilder's career. Munrow has trouble making his way back to his apartment and
ends up finding the upper-class tenants gathered around the broken elevator. He drunkenly bangs on
the controls, but it’s pointless. After taking Toby home, Robert goes to the pool to check on
Wilder only to discover a dog has drowned during the chaos, which soon gets worse: since the entire
building is out of power, the lower floor tenants start a party in the corridor. Wilder joins the
party and tries to hit on a drunk woman, but her husband quickly takes her away, which
angers Wilder and causes him to beat the man up. Talbot and Charlotte discuss if they should stop
him and decide it’s better to stay away from it. It’s Robert who ends up trying to stop the fight,
only to get hit in the face. Wilder encourages Robert to get wild, and after some hesitation,
Robert decides he may as well have fun too. Meanwhile a drunk and depressed Munrow goes to
the balcony to self-delete. The following morning, Robert tries to get ready for work but when he
turns on the faucet, water doesn’t come out. Charlotte is there lamenting Munrow’s death and
wondering why Robert hasn't unpacked his boxes, but Robert doesn't answer. Then she changes the
subject to Talbot's theory that every tenant has decided to cross a line, meaning it'll only get
worse from now on. Suddenly, Wilder starts banging on Robert's door, demanding to be introduced to
Royal. Apparently he wants to make a documentary about the building and start with Munrow's death,
which suspiciously hasn’t attracted the attention of the police. However Robert doesn’t answer the
door because he thinks Wilder is slowly losing his mind. Once Wilder finally gives up and leaves,
Robert advises Charlotte to stay away from Wilder, but she thinks it’s ridiculous. Charlotte doesn’t
think Wilder is capable of being harmful, yet Robert can’t stop thinking about the drowned dog.
At that moment Toby peeks from the upper balcony with a kaleidoscope and when Robert asks him what
he sees, Toby says he sees the future. In the meantime, the other upper-class tenants gather
to discuss how the poor people are out of control. Mainly Pangbourne keeps on insisting on his plan:
they should show the lower-floor tenants that they can throw a better party and control all necessary
resources. In his apartment, Wilder is gathering his equipment for the documentary, ignoring Helen
when she points out that he’s never home. Before Wilder leaves, Helen reminds him that they need
money, but instead of helping Wilder takes the few bills from the table. At the parking lot,
Robert sees the car where Munrow landed and feels guilty over lying to the young man. Robert tries
to find his own car to no avail, so he has no choice but to go back to his apartment. Meanwhile
Steele keeps on trying to unclog the chute, which has become almost an impossible task. Suddenly,
Royal's dog runs past him so Steele chases after it with a golf club. At the penthouse,
Ann gets tired of the chaotic situation and decides to leave, but Royal forbids her and
even slaps her, causing Ann to point out that it's the first time he touched her in months.
At that moment the elevator opens and Royal finds his dog injured inside. During the following days,
Robert doesn’t know how to deal with his current situation and ends up sleeping in his office. He
spends his time doing exercise and working, only going home to change clothes. Meanwhile the chaos
in the rest of the building keeps getting worse and the tenants become wilder by the second. To
make matters worse the maintenance crew refuses to work, so the building slowly gets filled with
garbage bags and the supermarket gets emptied. One day, Robert goes to the building to grab some
paint from his apartment and discovers Wilder is truly making a documentary of the building
with the help of Talbot. While they describe how tenants have become savages, suddenly Pangbourne,
Simmons, and Cosgrove show up to accuse Wilder of instigating all the chaos and proceed to beat
him up while Talbot continues filming. When Robert tries to leave, two men try to take his paint can,
and a scuffle ensues while others watch without caring. After lots of struggle, Robert wins and
takes the paint, but the crowd goes actually wild when Wilder is defeated. Then Robert returns to
his apartment and distracts himself by painting the walls. Meanwhile Helen takes Toby to Talbot's
place, but she doesn't find him because Pangbourne has taken him captive. The chaos is becoming too
dangerous, so Helen has no choice but to leave her children in a room where the other mothers and
children are hiding. Then Helen goes to Robert, who happily shows her his apartment's new color,
only for the conversation to turn into intimacy. At the penthouse, Royal is trying to work but
keeps getting distracted by the group of people that have invaded his house and are using it as
a love hotel. When Simmons tells him that his wife is downstairs and Pangbourne adds that she
could easily get killed, Royal goes to the lobby where he finds Wilder, who has been thrown out
of the building by Pangbourne. Wilder doesn’t know who Royal is and simply tells him to be
careful. At that moment, a police officer knocks on the entrance and asks Royal if everything is
alright, but Royal pretends he has things under control. Eventually Royal finds his wife, who's
being forced to run on a conveyor belt by the lower-floor tenants. Meanwhile Wilder demands the
key to the penthouse from Royal’s former maid, but the woman suggests using Charlotte to bait Royal,
implying that they used to have an affair. Then the maid gives Wilder a gun, claiming that it's
his key to the penthouse. Back to Helen, she’s still hanging out with Robert and shares that
Charlotte mentioned he was the best amenity in the building, which Helen now agrees to. When Helen
leaves, Steele notices her and suggests using her to barter for food, but Robert refuses. Helen
tries to make her way to the children, however she gets captured. Meanwhile Wilder is going crazy in
Charlotte's apartment, and when she finally shows up, Wilder reveals that he knows that Royal is
Toby's biological father. Then he drags Charlotte into Toby's room to take advantage of her. The
next day, a beaten-up Charlotte is forced to serve Wilder food and liquor, but she still often looks
over the balcony, hoping to see Robert. However Robert is still inside and suddenly he receives
a mysterious letter. In the penthouse, the upper-floor tenants discuss Wilder's
uncontrollable behavior, and Simmons shares that he asked Robert to lobotomize Wilder, but Robert
insisted on making a psychological evaluation first. Pangbourne is confident that they can
convince Robert to do it, and, when he learns that everyone except for Cosgrove has taken leaves from
their jobs, Pangbourne is proud of them. He thinks everyone needs to work on the power
struggle within the building and insists on taking out Wilder first, then letting the lower-floor
tenants eliminate each other. Afterward, Royal can remodel the lower floors to their advantage. With
the decision made, the men agree to butcher Ann's horse for dinner. Royal sarcastically asks Ann if
she's still enjoying the party and she responds by slapping him while Talbot watches the whole
scene. In the meantime, Robert goes through the hallway and finds some of the tenants watching
a video of Cosgrove with Steele's wife and they decide to seek revenge. When Cosgrove comes home,
the tenants immediately ambush him. Robert heads to Charlotte's apartment and finds Wilder,
who laments leaving Helen because he can't control himself without her. Using this chance to take
notes for the evaluation, Robert listens to Wilder explain that living in the high-rise requires
a special behavior that he thought he was ready for, he also points out that self-contained people
like Robert are the real danger because they're immune to psychological pressures. Sometime later
when things start to calm down, Jane and Ann find Charlotte and take care of her wounds while others
begin doing laundry at the pool. Helen is forced to clean up the penthouse, but at that moment
she goes into labor. Robert cleans up Charlotte's apartment, not knowing that Toby watches him from
a hole in the ceiling. Once he’s done cleaning, Robert leaves the apartment, only to be captured
by Simmons, who drags him to the penthouse. Robert tells the group that he refuses to lobotomize
Wilder, claiming that he might be the sanest man in the building. Furious by this disobedience,
Pangbourne ties a makeshift wing around Robert’s neck as he threatens to throw him out, but Royal
walks in and stops them. Later in the evening, Helen gives birth in the penthouse while Robert
joins Royal for dinner. Royal refuses to leave the building and believes its failure has opened
a chance for the tenants to experience a new life. Suddenly Wilder climbs out of the vent looking for
Helen, only to see Royal first. He immediately demands Royal to confess he orchestrated the
chaos and inequality, accusing him of hiding behind women and children. This angers Royal,
who tries to attack Wilder but ends up being shot instead. When the women from the upper floors
hear the gunshot, they quickly corner Wilder and attack him while Toby watches everything
through his kaleidoscope. The next day, Robert and Helen help clean up the building while Ann and the
other women are happy to care of Helen's baby. With the declining mental health of the tenants,
Robert considers opening a private practice, although to be fair he isn’t exactly doing
better than them. After cooking Royal's dog's leg, Robert reunites with Charlotte
and wonders if the second high-rise building will also fall the way they did. Charlotte asks
him who he was talking to, and Robert answers that he was talking to the building. Outside,
Toby has created a radio tower where he listens to a recording of Margaret Thatcher
declaring that there will never be political freedom as long as there is state capitalism.