Lizzie Benson has found her niche working as a librarian without a formal degree, which allows her to unofficially counsel those around her. Carrying the weight of her family's struggles, Lizzie supports her devout, anxious mother and her brother who is recovering from addiction. The semblance of stability they have achieved is disrupted when Sylvia Liller, Lizzie's mentor whose podcast 'Hell and High Water' predicts gloomy societal futures, offers her a job to manage the concerned responses from a divided audience. As Lizzie faces the increasing anxiety of her brother's new responsibilities as a father, Sylvia's withdrawal from society, and the relentless urgencies of life in a chaotic city, she confronts the futility of her efforts to help those around her. Amid the pandemonium, Lizzie's quest for purpose becomes an introspective journey, begging the question: if she cannot save others from the world's fires, who will save her?