Depression-era America: Waitress Cecilia (Mia Farrow) likes to escape her abusive marriage by going to the cinema as often as possible. After watching "The Purple Rose of Cairo" several times, the main protagonist of the film (within the film) Tom (Jeff Daniels) notices her and crosses the screen-threshold. Taking a tour round the real New Jersey and the city-of-the-film, the two fall in love. But Tom's defection has consequences.