Kirie (Eriko Hatsune) and Shuichi (Fhi Fan) are friends in a small town who notice that Shuichi's father, Toshio (Ren Ôsugi), has become utterly obsessed with snails, videotaping them in his garden and gathering items that resemble the spiral patterns on their shells. Kirie sees spirals elsewhere, too, even in the way people dress and comport their bodies. When the curiosities turn to tragedies, Shuichi wants to escape to Tokyo, but Kirie is determined to stay and figure out what is going on.