Trying to keep his head down in an Orwellian future, a small-town hardware clerk discovers his revolutionary brother is building a bomb in their shared apartment.

SYNOPSIS:

After closing his hardware store for the day, Alex repairs the wheel on the shopping cart of a homeless man before retiring to his shared apartment in the back of the store. Inside, his brother, Karl, an agoraphobic psychopath, is building the bomb he believes will trigger the end of days behind a wall of bedsheets. The boys' mother, Evelyn, raised them to be martyrs in a society where every citizen is under constant surveillance by drones. While Karl embraces Evelyn's cause, Alex is not willing to die fighting an all-powerful system. Karl reminds Alex that Evelyn expects a visit to discuss Armageddon. Instead, Alex goes for a run and has a seizure.

The next day, while visiting Evelyn, Alex is tasked with selling the family business since Karl has spent all their money on his DIY bomb. Evelyn, believing the world will soon end, is far from concerned but feels putting the store on the market will keep Alex busy and out of Karl's hair. She arranges for Alex to meet a local real estate agent, Rebecca.

Emasculated by Evelyn and Karl, Alex has no choice but to play along. He finds Rebecca is hesitant to take them on as clients because he won't show potential buyers their living area. As only Evelyn and Karl are on the property's title, Rebecca empathizes with Alex's position as the family's black sheep. She agrees to take the job if he goes to Stage with her. An atheist, Alex resists attending services for the State's organized religion but finds he has no choice.

Afraid someone will see his bomb, Karl demands Alex fire Rebecca. Alex defies his brother and goes to service, where he finds that she holds a high position within the religion. Alex confides in Rebecca about his lack of belief. She admits their belief system is manufactured by the State but counters the chaos of a faithless society would be far worse.

Rebecca finds a buyer for the store, but he demands to see the living area in the back. Alex agrees to let them know when Karl is out, but his subterfuge is discovered. To remind Alex of their real purpose, detonating the bomb, Karl drugs him and cuts off two of his fingers. Enraged, Alex invites Rebecca and the buyer into the back room, but Karl has moved his "project." As an undercover agent for The State, Rebecca had hoped to find evidence to jail the brothers as insurrectionists.

Now, Rebecca must play along with the sham sale. Alex takes her to Evelyn to sign the deed but warns her that his mother is deluded. True to form, Evelyn tells them that Alex died when he was a child. Karl, she explains, is suffering from a dual personality disorder. Neither Alex nor Rebecca believes the story, but later, when no evidence can be found showing the brothers together, Rebecca and The State realize the truth.

Alex confronts Karl with Evelyn's story, and his brother confirms it. Karl murdered Alex when they were kids because Alex was a heathen. As this undermined the prophecy Evelyn felt her sons were destined to fulfill, she brainwashed Karl to create a place in his mind for Alex to live. When Alex has a "seizure," losing some of his short-term memory, his consciousness is being usurped by Karl. Gradually accepting the truth, Alex accompanies Karl to Evelyn's home, where she proclaims the end of days upon them. The boys fight, and Alex is knocked out. When he wakes, Karl reveals he's kidnapped Rebecca and given her a front-row seat to his bomb's detonation. Alex races back to the store to save her as Karl fulfills his mother's wish for him to kill her before Armageddon.

Alex saves a dime-store mannequin dressed like Rebecca - yet another ruse to distract him from disarming the bomb. Convinced that he and Karl are the same person, Alex threatens to shoot himself in the head to stop Karl. Karl escapes through the back door. Alex can't force himself to commit suicide, waits for the end, and discovers the bomb is once again missing.

Rebecca and the police break down his door. A gunfight ensues, and Alex is murdered. Having convinced The State that he and Alex are the same person, Karl is free of surveillance and transports his bomb to the city's center. Suspicious, Rebecca digs up Alex's childhood grave only to find it filled with paperclips. She realizes too late that Alex and Karl are really two different people, just as Karl's bomb obliterates the city and fulfills Evelyn's prophecy.