When their parents are killed in a car crash, Ruby Baker (Leelee Sobieski) and her brother Rhett (Trevor Morgan) are sent to live with family friends Terry (Stellan Skarsgard) and Erin Glass (Diane Lane). However, the ultra-rich Malibu lifestyle offered by their new guardians soon turns sour when Ruby begins to suspect the Glasses of having had a hand in her parents' deaths. As Ruby becomes more and more convinced of Terry and Erin's guilt, a psychological battle of wits begins to develop between them, with the ultimate prize being the children's $4 million inheritance.