Synopsis
A filthy man digs through a enormous pile of trash in a garbage dump, surrounded by an overwhelming amount of post-consumer waste. This is Slave. Among discarded Swiffers®, obsolete hi-fi, and rotting food he finds a book by L. Ron Hubbard, some old wires, unused toilet paper. He puts them all in his sack. A large Hybrid SUV drives into the building. A greasy man in a white suit (Man) exits the conspicuous, oversized vehicle and proclaims ownership over Slave.
Later, in Man’s home, Slave arrives with a delivery of various products as Man sucks down a green smoothie. They are surrounded by thousands of dollars worth of consumer merchandise: cell phone covers, bladeless fans, televisions, more Swiffers® and juice blenders are only some of the shit that clutters up the room. Man clings to life as an ultra-consumer, validated by his growing collection of material possessions. Once alone in his hovel, Slave performs a pan-theistic ceremony to various gods and new-age spiritual solutions.
That night Man, Slave and a newcomer, Woman, arrive at a sleazy motel. Slave changes into a mangy ape costume in front of Man in a humiliating and ritualistic exhibition - an attempt to reduce Slave even further and remind him of his creaturely nature. At Man’s bidding he enters the bathroom where Woman is applying makeup. She tells him he stinks and leaves the grovelling ape-Slave alone as she joins Man in the main room.
From inside the bathroom, Slave can hear a television documentary about jellyfish through the door. The narrator’s description (voiced by David Cronenberg) of these creatures drives him into a state of spiritual ecstasy. Unable to control himself, he exits the bathroom, eager to tell his friends of his stupid epiphany.
But Man and Woman are occupied in their own strange ritual: Woman coats smart phones and television convertors with hand sanitizer and passes them to Man, who in turn shoves them up his ass. He consumes the very products he relies on to establish his place in society and introduces them to the excrement they are destined to become.
The three reprobates are back in Man’s Hybrid SUV. He pulls over at a vacant industrial area and tells Slave to lie down behind the vehicle. Slave obeys. Man re-enters the SUV, puts it in gear and backs over Slave, who offers no protest.
Slave is alive but not well. He looks up at the firmament, where a beautiful jellyfish constellation forms: Slave’s new deity.