Fruit Fly

Mallory Maddox, a writer, hides in the bathroom during a party that she’s hosting in her North London home. She feels alienated from her guests, whose praise she believes is insincere. A woman loudly compares her to Virginia Woolf’s Clarissa Dalloway for throwing such good parties, but Mallory has only ever feigned knowledge of Mrs. Dalloway by reading online summaries. To maintain the illusion, she prominently displays an early-edition copy of Mrs. Dalloway in her bathroom. 

Mallory’s husband, Ronan McSweeny, a newly promoted Netflix commissioning editor, drunkenly propositions her through the bathroom door before being called away to give a speech. Alone again, Mallory reflects on her own career, which has stalled since her best-selling debut novel, Shallow Embers, was published seven years ago. She feels overshadowed by both her husband’s success and that of a rival author, P. K. Anderson. As she listens to the party guests cheer for Ronan, Mallory feels a new idea for a book begin to form.

Leo is agitated and physically uncomfortable, trying to calm himself with the thought of getting drugs he calls “Tina and G” (14). He meets with his dealer, a man he internally calls “Brick” and holds in contempt. Brick makes small talk about Leo’s sweater, which Leo stole from a charity shop. Leo impatiently waits to complete the purchase, which he views as acquiring the “gateway to heaven” (15).

After the party, Mallory sits beside her unconscious husband. She reflects on their sterile life, her meticulously designed home, and her deep unhappiness. Frustrated with her writer’s block and the pressure from Ronan to start a family, she reads a cynical Reddit post that advises aspiring authors on how to write a bestseller. The post’s key advice is that a “gay AND sad” story is a guaranteed hit (12). Inspired, Mallory recalls her own tenuous connections to LGBTQ+ culture, including her love for Virginia Woolf. She decides to conduct research by downloading the gay dating app Grindr.

Leo attempts to short-change Brick, who quickly realizes the deception. Leo is forced to run. He escapes through the streets of Wood Green to a nearby park, Ducketts Common, where he hides under a tree and smokes crystal meth from a piece of kitchen foil.

Mallory creates a profile on Grindr using pictures of her sleeping husband. Using the profile name “Chat?;),” she begins exploring the app. After a brief, unsuccessful exchange, she receives a message from a user named “Daddy” and begins messaging him. She notices a text on Ronan’s phone from her friend Joanie, who mockingly refers to her as “Meek Mal.” Stung by this, Mallory and accepts Daddy’s invitation to a party.

Still high in the park, Leo receives a message on Grindr from “Daddy,” whose real name is Sam. Sam instructs Leo to bring the “T” (crystal meth) to a party at his house at 53 Priory Road. Leo agrees and prepares to leave for the party.

Feeling a sense of “unhinged bravery,” Mallory decides to go to the address that “Daddy” gave her on Grindr. She packs leftover vol-au-vents and a bottle of wine, hoping that her arrival with food will be seen as a funny, motherly gesture, earning her a friendly reception even though she’s not the person in her profile photos. She also takes pepper spray. Although the house is only a 10-minute walk away, Mallory decides to drive, rationalizing that it’s safer and will allow her to observe the house from her car before approaching. Although she admits to herself that she’s still tipsy, she believes that adrenaline has sharpened her senses. She gets into her car and begins driving to the party.

As Leo arrives at Sam’s house, he feels the drugs he took earlier kicking in. Sam is a wealthy man who hosts these events. Leo is met at the door by a new, suspicious young man who questions his disheveled appearance and the flowers he’s carrying, which Leo stole from a graveyard. The young man notices that Leo is already high and reveals that he must check Leo’s supply, referencing a past incident where Leo brought fake drugs. As a strange car parks across the street, the bouncer goes inside to get Sam, leaving Leo worried on the doorstep. He knows that his bag also contains his personal drug paraphernalia, which could get him into trouble. He notices that the funeral card on the flowers is addressed to “Daddy,” which he finds ironically appropriate for Sam.

Mallory arrives at the address for the “T-Party.” She sees a young man arrive and engage with two nearly naked men, one of whom she recognizes as “Daddy.” She witnesses what appears to be a drug deal, prompting her to search online for the meaning of “T-Party.” She’s horrified to learn it’s slang for a crystal-meth-fueled sex party, or “chemsex.” As she resolves to leave, she watches “Daddy” assault the young man on the porch, shoving him so that he falls and hits his head on the ground. A moment later, a separate attacker named Brick arrives by car and brutally beats the young man in the street. Mallory intervenes and attempts to use pepper spray on Brick, but he uses the young man as a shield, causing the spray to hit the young man’s eyes. As sirens approach, the young man begs Mallory not to call the police but to help him escape. Panicking, Mallory puts the injured man in her car and drives away from the scene.

Leo is in extreme pain inside a woman’s car after a violent assault. The woman, a stranger who stopped to help, is terrified and tries to get him to a hospital, but Leo refuses any medical or police involvement. He directs her to a drop-off point but has no intention of going inside, planning instead to sleep in a bush behind some dumpsters. To get her to leave, he lies and says that he’s fine and can see clearly. Once she drives away, Leo is left alone on the pavement, severely injured. He reflects that he only wanted to feel numb that weekend but is now left with nothing but his pain.

Upon returning home full of adrenaline, Mallory confirms that Ronan is still asleep. After receiving a suggestive text from “Daddy,” which she decides not to delete, she puts on kitchen gloves and meticulously cleans Liam’s blood from her coat. She then thoroughly cleans the kitchen and living room. Feeling a sudden, powerful surge of inspiration, Mallory sits in the armchair she uses when meeting with her therapy patients and begins writing a new novel on her laptop. She drafts a stark chapter about a young protagonist, whom she names Liam, being violently assaulted after a failed drug deal. She titles the manuscript Slay and feels an intense creative invigoration she hasn’t experienced in a long time.

Leo wakes in his room at the halfway house, badly beaten and recalling the previous night where he was in a fight with Brick and slept in a bush after drinking. Anxious about being discovered, he plans to lie to the staff by claiming that he was mugged by strangers on his way back from a movie theater. A nurse, Kerry, arrives for the morning check-in and is immediately suspicious of his story. Despite Leo’s attempts to charm and manipulate her as she tends to his injuries, Kerry insists on following protocol and administering a breathalyzer test. Leo fails the test with a very high blood alcohol level. As per the house rules, Kerry informs him that he’s being kicked out. Leo’s desperate begging and attempts to emotionally sway her are unsuccessful. After she tells him to pack his things and leaves, he furiously smashes the mirror in his room.

The morning after the party, Mallory tries to appear normal, but Ronan is suspicious of her behavior. He questions why she hid in the bathroom all night, her excessive drinking, and their lack of intimacy. In a tense confrontation, Ronan asks to see her phone. She panics, fearing that he’ll find the Grindr app, but she has hidden it inside a folder labelled “wellbeing” and successfully placates him. After he leaves for a soccer game, Mallory finds blood on the coat she wore the previous night. Ronan returns unexpectedly, having spotted the picnic basket and wine in her car, which she had intended to bring to the “T-Party.” Mallory lies and says that she’s taking leftovers to a friend. Ronan accepts this but insists that when he returns, they must seriously discuss having a baby. This ultimatum prompts Mallory to throw away the hamper’s contents and look for Leo.

Kerry calls the police, and Leo flees. Before leaving, he arms himself by pocketing a piece of broken glass. He goes to a familiar tree where he has stashed beers and drinks them to calm himself. After drinking, Leo’s state of mind changes; he now feels like he has a clear purpose and a destination and knows what he needs to do.

Mallory drives around searching for Leo. After spotting him bruised and limping, she follows him by car to a church. Intrigued and seeking a thrill, Mallory enters the building and discovers that she has walked into a recovery meeting. She decides to stay and takes a seat in the circle opposite Leo. When it’s her turn to speak, she panics that Leo will recognize her voice and impulsively introduces herself as Mandy and says that she has an alcohol addiction. She finds the group’s acceptance of her new persona to be validating and exciting. Leo says that he has an addiction and that, while he hates being there, he knows he needs help.

Leo despises the members of the support group and is only there to steal from the collection bucket. He’s in physical pain and desperate for money to fill a painkiller prescription and to travel to see a man named Mo. Leo feigns being a newcomer to gain the group’s empathy, but he internally scorns the other members, believing their problems are trivial. During the meeting, he secretly arranges a paid sexual encounter with Mo for that evening. Their text exchange reveals that Mo is controlling and frightening, but the £200 he offers is enough to make Leo agree, despite his fear. Leo plans to use the money for his prescription, drugs, and possibly a hostel bed. Another attendee, whom Leo has been silently mocking, prepares to share her story.

Mallory, using the persona of Mandy, delivers a dramatic and fabricated speech about her past as a creative person struggling with an alcohol addiction. She tells the captivated group that her addiction eroded her identity and once led to a hospital stay. While most of the members are enthralled by her performance, Mallory notices that Leo, whom she’s trying to impress, appears distracted by his phone. Undeterred and fueled by adrenaline, she continues her elaborate story, even quoting a metaphor from one of her own books. She concludes her speech to a stunned, impressed silence. Mallory feels triumphant, believing that she has successfully performed and that her alter ego has allowed her to finally be seen and acknowledged.

Leo impatiently endures the support-group meeting, internally mocking the other attendees. When prompted to share, he decides to perform for the group. He draws on his real experiences with being unhoused, drug use, and survival sex but presents them dramatically to maximize sympathy. The group readily responds with empathy. As the meeting ends, Leo steals a £10 note from the collection bucket. He’s then approached by Mandy, who offers him free pro bono therapy sessions. Leo is uninterested until Mandy reveals that her private, comfortable office is at her house. Seeing a potential opportunity, Leo agrees to take her number, pretending to be grateful. He then uses the stolen money to reach Mo and has a distressing sexual encounter with him. Afterward, he goes to a hardware store, uses the money that Mo paid him to buy drugs, and gets high.

Mallory sends the first 50 pages of her new novel to her former editor, Stanley “Stan” Maier. When Ronan gets home, she lies about her day. He then brings up their plan to have a baby, and despite her internal struggle, Mallory agrees, feeling trapped. Later that night, Stan replies to her email. He’s intrigued by the manuscript about the chemsex world but asks her to add more peril for the protagonist. He also questions the authenticity of her perspective on addiction and a young gay man’s life. Mallory responds by claiming to have had an addiction herself and says that her deceased brother Nick’s sexuality, and their parents’ inability to accept it, is the inspiration for her story.

Leo takes shelter under a canal bridge. He’s aware that the woman from the meeting is the same person whose Volvo XC40 he saw parked on Priory Road before he was beaten, a connection he confirmed after watching her leave the church in the same car. He believes that she’s rich, foolish, and morbidly fascinated by his poverty. Deciding to manipulate her, Leo texts her to accept her offer of therapy, suggesting that they meet at her house since he has nowhere else to go. To elicit her pity, he states that he’s sleeping under a bridge and sends a deliberately pathetic picture of his sleeping bag. The woman responds immediately, expressing her sympathy and agreeing to have him over.