Synopsis

A group of disillusioned youth search for purpose in their lives. Each are on a separate journey toward self-discovery, each affecting the lives of the others in the shadowy recesses of the city. Jack, the groups catalyst rejects societies rules and a life of conformity by taking care of geriatric junkies in an abandoned warehouse. However his life takes a devastating turn when his Turkish-American partner in crime, Ike is physically threatened by a Neo Nazi, Skinhead. Life on the edge and living a marginal lifestyle ultimately proves just as an ideal for Jack as the consequences of his actions turn fatal. After his travels abroad, Billy returns with what seems to be a clear conscience and a mission to find his transgender Mother who abandoned him as a child. In a quest to understand his mothers sexuality, he encounters sexually ambiguous Lillith. After a surreal night with Lillith at the House of Matriarch (an inter-sex brothel) he gains acceptance of his mother and affirms his own sexuality. Maxine is an enigma, smart, beautiful and pedantically independent. She eschews all the trappings of a privileged upbringing. As she writes autobiographical screenplays about her adventures as a call girl, her dead father visits her in her apartment. She rejects all sentimentality and affection until a long simmering attraction for Jack is consummated. The more she rejects his affection the more she is forced to confront her own sordid past and confess a secret that will ultimately free her from torment and allow her to receive love again. Club Singer, Ash verges on a big break in her career. She is admired by many and coveted by some. Mainly by lost and broken Chameleon Christine who becomes Ashs object of affection. Christine slowly inhabits Ashs identity as she tries to do everything Ash does. But in the end, Christine leaves Ash out to dry when she is seduced and then hurt by gregarious playboy, Ike. In Sweet Underground certain characters triumph over their issues resulting in epiphanies and life changes while others succumb to their sordid past and leave themselves vulnerable to self-destruction.