Wormwood opens with Liam, a menial laborer in this motion picture industry town, working alongside an embittered sister, Page, and his naïve Papa. A chance meeting with Mrs. Stevens, the Company's Producer, and her tyrannical/sycophantic Attorney, Garret, propels Liam from obscurity into celebrity (with aid from'talent'-making Director Cartwright, and their copy-speak Publicist). Liam is forced to reflect on his transformation as he intersects first and last with paparazzo Jimmy, egomaniacal Company star Orlando, beautiful but self-absorbed starlet Lilah, and again his beloved Papa.