In a 1970s Los Angeles, where counterculture is in full swing and hippie ideals begin to crumble, a laid-back private detective with a love for both liquid and solid substances navigates a sea of madness and conspiracies. Doc Sportello, a former lover of the rock and party scene, receives an unexpected visit from his ex-girlfriend, Shasta Fay Hepworth. She reveals that her new lover, a real estate mogul, is in the sights of a dangerous organization and pleads with him to help her get him out of trouble.