Daniel doesn't have it easy, as a gay, Jewish used car salesman in 1990s West Virginia.
Nick, Daniel's deeply closeted boss, institutes a humiliating office ritual called "eating the snake."
Daniel comes to understand Nick's frustrated self-hate, and admire Nick's ability to withstand emotional pain.
Doing an end-run around homophobia and around Nick's dictatorial control of the office, Daniel hatches an erotic plan to rescue both himself and Nick from lonely misery.