Detailed Summary of Killing Time
Leigha, a flower-child, is trapped in The Room, a doorless, windowless space with Vivian, a pigtailed, skull-ring-wearing goth girl. Vivian loudly declares that she was an escort to wealthy customers, not a prostitute, details the difference between the two professions, and brags about the high salary she earned. Leigha states she doesn’t believe her. Vivian dismisses her.
On a Greyhound Bus from Tennessee to NYC we meet Grant, an energetic, Star Trek-uniform-wearing trusting nerd who rambles on without a filter to everyone who will listen. Floyd, a police officer, tries his best to avoid it, but is ultimately drawn into conversation with Grant. The two exchange pleasantries as Grant reveals he is traveling to NYC for a Star Trek convention but is nervous because of the recent stories about the Long Island serial killer. Floyd assures Grant that he doesn’t meet the serial killer’s target demographic as he shares chicken noddle soup with him. Floyd talks about famous serial killers and then reveals to Grant that the soup was drugged. Grant passes out as Floyd reveals his plans to kill him.
Grant wakes up in The Room with Vivian, Leigha, and the mute Jimmy. Leigha works hard to calm down the freaking out Grant who is still reeling from his recent murder. After calming him down, they reveal that they are all murder victims. Leigha explains the reality of the room they are trapped in: they can’t break through the walls; they don’t get hungry, thirsty, or tired; they don’t age or get sick; they don’t have a pulse; they can’t smell; and they don’t feel temperature or pain. Leigha reveals that she has been in the room for ten years, Vivian eight, and Jimmy five. Jimmy has never spoken. Leigha revels the details of her gruesome death. The scene ends with Jimmy revealing that he can now speak and that his real name is Bruce.
We find Floyd in a Starbucks trying to read a book. Kitty tries to strike up a conversation with him. Annoyed, Floyd offers her some of his drugged soup, which she declines. Despite the rough start, the pair soon falls into easy conversation. After they both joke about secretly being serial killers, it is revealed that Kitty is Killer Kat, a serial killer who uses her sexuality to ensnare her victims. Floyd reveals his true identity as the Hell’s Kitchen Killer. Now in each other’s confidence, the pair retreats back to Floyd’s apartment.
Back in The Room, Bruce reveals that he was unable to speak before this moment. They chalk up the change to Grant’s arrival in the room. After confirming that Bruce was murdered, they theorize that they might have all been murdered by the same man. Bruce disproves this idea when he reveals he was murdered by a woman.
At Floyd’s apartment, Floyd and Kitty, fresh from making love, share some intimate moments together. They fall into talking about the Long Island serial killer, who Floyd describes as a hack and amateur. Stating that he actually knows the Long Island serial killer’s true identity, Floyd and Kitty decide to kill him together.
Back in The Room, with their last theory disproven, the group sets to work on building a new hypothesis for why they are all trapped together. They compare the methods of their murders: Leigha was killed on Long Island by a security guard while Vivian was murdered on Conner Beach. They compare the physical descriptions of their killers, but they don’t seem to match. Grant’s killer and Leigha’s killer share similar personality and physical traits, but the killers’ ages don’t seem to line up. Bruce suggests that maybe time moves differently in The Room, and his theory is soon proven correct. Bruce reveals the details of his murder, and Vivian admits that she was strangled while working as a prostitute.
Three college students: the slow-witted Terry, the high-strung Joe, and the Indian foreign exchange student Jamie are exploring the crime scene on Conner Beach where bodies were recently found. Jamie warns them that they should leave, but Joe demands they stay. They discuss the recent developments in the Long Island serial killer case. When Joe defends the killer and lets out a detail that was never released to the public, Jamie realizes he must be the Long Island serial killer. Left with no choice, Joe reluctantly pulls out a gun and murders both of them.
Terry and Jamie both appear in The Room to mass confusion. After explaining the logistics of the room and their backgrounds, Vivian realizes that Joe is the same person who murdered her. Grant realizes that they are all not only murder victims, but the victims of serial killers. Jamie revels that she can feel cold and Terry states she can smell things. Bruce suggests that the room is changing again and they all check themselves for signs of the change. Leigha and Bruce discover they now have a pulse while Vivian can feel pain again.
Joe enters his dorm room with Kitty in tow. Kitty repeated attempts to get Joe to kiss her so she can kill him with her poison lipstick. They are interrupted by Floyd who bursts out of the closet demanding Kitty kill Joe with the chicken soup. Joe panics but is soon force-fed the soup by Floyd and kissed by Kitty’s poison lips. Joe dies as Kitty and Floyd argue who gets credit for the kill.
Joe appears in The Room and is attacked by Vivian and Terry. Once sanity is restored, Joe reveals the identity of his killers, and now everyone in The Room is tied together through the three serial killers. Jamie states that she can feel the presence of hundred of other spirits that the rest of the group can’t see. A minute later Kitty and Floyd appear, having killed each other. As everyone fights with each other, Jamie helps Grant see the other spirits. The fighting dies out as Jamie states that all the other spirits were murder victims whose souls are trapped between two worlds. Jamie, who now has learned to control the room, decides to make a door to the next world. One by one they all exit, leaving Jamie for last. Jamie encourages the spirits to follow her through the door were they will regain their voices and find peace and then exits through the door.