On a dark and desolate snowy night, successful romance novelist Paul crashes his car into a snowbank and is rescued by his “number one fan,” Annie, who brings the unconscious Paul back to her isolated home. While Paul recovers, Annie reads an unpublished manuscript of his latest novel and becomes distraught when she learns that the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain.

Holding him hostage, Annie forces Paul to write a new novel where Misery survives, and he wonders if Annie has any intention of ever letting him go. When loneliness confuses fictional characters for beloved friends, and passion leads to distortion, can either of them survive the misery?