Adam is a teenage artist living in a Rhode Island town devastated by economic collapse. He suffers from Merrick's Disease, a painful gastrointestinal condition caused by contaminated municipal water, but his family cannot afford the alien treatment. He serves as the primary earner for his household by recording his romance with his girlfriend for an alien broadcast. As an artist, he prefers to use physical paints and canvases to capture realistic outdoor scenes rather than the idealized still-lifes expected by the alien conquerors.

The vuvv are an advanced alien species who resemble squat, granite coffee tables and communicate via staticky friction from gritty fins. They arrived on Earth offering advanced technology, a move that immediately crashed the human economy and pushed most humans into extreme poverty. They consider themselves superior to humans, refuse to learn human languages, and view human culture purely as primitive entertainment.

Mrs. Costello is Adam and Nattie's mother. She holds a master's degree and formerly worked as a bank teller before alien technology eliminated her industry. She exhibits relentless optimism, sending out resumes daily and insisting the economy will eventually correct itself. She rents out the lower half of her home to make ends meet after her husband's sudden departure.

Nattie is Adam's 12-year-old sister. She is highly observant, employing witty puns and sarcastic observations to process the dismal state of their lives. The severe poverty she endures forces her to grow up quickly, prompting her to sell off her childhood toys to help feed the family.

Mr. Costello is Adam and Nattie's father and a former Ford vehicle salesperson. He lost his career entirely when the alien arrival destroyed the automobile market. Unwilling to cope with his inability to provide for his family, he abandoned his wife and children under the guise of attending a charity auction.

Mr. Reilly is a volunteer art teacher at Adam's school who makes a meager living working as a door attendant at a floating apartment complex for wealthy humans. He is deeply devoted to his students, offering them a safe space to express themselves. He quietly arranges for Adam to enter an interspecies art competition.

Chloe is a teenager whose family rents the lower floor of the Costello house. She partners with Adam to record their dates for an alien reality television program that monetizes human courtship. While initially empathetic and deeply involved with Adam, the stress of constant performance and living in close quarters causes her to grow increasingly irritable.

Hunter is Chloe's older brother, a young man in his early twenties who works part-time at an alien rendering plant. He views his alien employers as playboys and desperately wishes to assimilate into their culture. To do so, he studies their language, mimics their crab-walking movements, and uses harsh chemicals to induce hair loss.

Buddy is a student at Adam's school who works as a chainsaw artist. He creates absurd, highly inaccurate religious sculptures out of wood, fully aware that the aliens find human religion amusingly primitive. He operates his business from his driveway, hoping to attract wealthy alien buyers.

Shirley is an alien official involved with the interspecies art contest. Shirley expresses a patronizing appreciation for human spirituality and prefers Adam's fantasy artwork over his realistic portrayals of Earth, stating that alien buyers want to see exotic vistas rather than industrial reality.

Mr. Marsh is the father of Chloe and Hunter. He is currently unemployed and was forced to sell his New York home for a single dollar after waiting too long for the housing market to rebound. He rents the lower level of the Costello home to keep a roof over his family's heads.

Lucy is a musician competing at the interspecies gala. Instead of catering to the aliens by playing the nostalgic 1950s songs they expect, she plays an aggressive, dramatic piano melody. Her refusal to compromise her artistic expression immediately catches Adam's attention.

Mrs. Gregson is a wealthy human tenant living in the floating luxury complex where Mr. Reilly works. She openly degrades him in front of his students, forcing him to accept her daughter's discarded steak leftovers and demanding that he express gratitude for the scrap.