During a rave at Comfort, Arlen takes drugs and becomes high. The Dream and his harem see Honey and while Arlen is tripping, they take her in to their compound. Saying she “hates” Comfort and bemoaning the loss of Honey, Arlen wanders into the desert. In her drug induced state, she comes across Miami Man who cares for her through the night. When Arlen awakens, Miami Man says he will use her to get his daughter back (as he will be shot if he gets too close to Comfort). Arlen initially refuses to help due to her hatred of the Bridge people f. Over the course of the journey, they bond and develop an attraction for each other. We also learn that the government designates individuals as “Bad Batch,” i.e., the unwanted members of society, and abandon them to their own devices in the desert. Although Arlen’s history is not revealed, Miami Man was banished when discovered that he was an illegal immigrant.
One night, a scout for Comfort finds the pair, shoots Miami Man, and tells Arlen to come with her. Though she hesitates, she abandons Miami Man in the desert. The Hermit stumbles across Miami Man barely alive and nurses him back to health.
Arlen returns to Comfort, but is clearly unhappy. She approaches the Dream’s residence and he invites her in. He says that the “Dream” is a metaphor for life, and that he built Comfort so he could give everyone the Dream. Arlen pretends to want to bear his children (as all the other women in his harem have shirts reading “I let the Dream inside me”), but uses the opportunity to take one of Dream’s pregnant wives hostage. She gets the Dream to give her Honey and a vehicle and drives out of Comfort and in to the desert. She is told she is no longer welcome back in Comfort.
Eventually, Arlen finds Miami Man and reunites him with her daughter. As he readies to return to the Bridge, she asks Miami Man to stay with her in the desert instead. The two hold hands and the film ends with the trio eating a rabbit (that used to be Honey’s pet) in the desert.