Down the Drain

Julia’s friend, Josh, contacts her about auditioning for a role in his movie, Uncut Gems. He’s written a part inspired by her. Julia auditions and gets the role. She tells Shane, and he’s proud of her for the first time. She tells herself this is a turning point and needs to move forward.

Julia starts filming Uncut Gems. Gianna accompanies her to the set every day. Most days they’re both high. They often party with Julia’s colleagues afterward, too. Julia is happy about the movie but realizes that she and Gianna are people with addiction. One day, Liana calls Julia and tells her that their friend, Katharine, overdosed. Julia is beside herself and decides to stop using drugs for a while. Gianna keeps partying, insisting that Julia is overreacting, as she didn’t know Katharine well.

Julia meets Andrew at a party one night. They start dating soon after and quickly marry. Gianna gets jealous because she sees Julia as her soulmate. Julia feels bad but loves Andrew. She agrees to go to Narcotics Anonymous for him.

Julia goes to Los Angeles for a photo shoot and stays with her friends, Cole and Chris. While there, Liana calls to say that Gianna overdosed and died. Julia can’t believe it, as she was texting her the night before. She blames herself for not returning Gianna’s calls as she promised.

After Gianna’s death, Julia stops talking to her friends and spends all her time alone at Andrew’s apartment. Then one day, she sees a medium and is convinced Gianna is in the room with her. Meanwhile, her relationship with Andrew devolves, and he files for divorce. They try to make their relationship work again during the COVID-19 pandemic, but after the lockdown, Andrew’s addiction to alcohol reemerges, and Julia doesn’t want to be with him anymore.

Julia discovers that she’s pregnant. Andrew isn’t pleased, although he wanted to have a child together. She visits the doctor and learns the baby is due on Gianna’s birthday. She decides not to terminate the pregnancy but keeps it a secret from her friends. During the third trimester, he has trouble caring for herself and the dog, Molly, she adopted. Now sober, she also cannot take her prescription medication during the pregnancy. Meanwhile, Andrew’s behavior becomes increasingly hostile. Julia prays for a new acting job to escape him and “a role comes” shortly after that (281).

Julia gets a new apartment with an extra room for her baby, Valentino, after she finishes filming No Sudden Move. After she gives birth, her friends come over to support her. Julia falls in love with Valentino and tells him all about Gianna. She wishes Gianna were alive so they could raise him together. Meanwhile, Andrew is absent and drunk. He doesn’t help Julia with Valentino and when he’s home, he’s drunk and aggressive. Julia demands that he leave, convinced she can raise Valentino alone. She worries she’s just like her mom but dismisses the thought. Eventually, Julia starts dating again. After one good date, she runs into Andrew outside the apartment, and he makes a commotion. She doesn’t keep seeing her date because Andrew ruined it for her. Finally, Andrew moves out, and Julia scrubs the apartment and changes the locks.

Julia hears rumors that Andrew is telling people she’s keeping Valentino from him. As revenge, she posts photos of him online, calling him a “deadbeat dad.” Tabloids contact her for a comment, and she tells her story. Not long later, however, she publicly apologizes for her online behavior.

Shortly after, Julia starts dating a famous musical artist. She likes being around him and his entourage, but he quickly becomes controlling. Julia tries to pull away from the relationship, but he is possessive and leaks their relationship to the media. He later confronts Julia for embarrassing him with her behavior and appearance. She starts to distance herself from him. Not long later, he goes silent, insisting he needs space from her.

Meanwhile, Julia takes a photo advertisement job with Harmony Korine. Her health worsens, and she realizes she’s stressed about the musical artist and needs to terminate the relationship. Meanwhile, rumors circulate about her online. Around the same time, Julia’s friend, Chris, dies by suicide. Julia is devastated. The next day, she learns that Harmony overdosed and died. She cuts ties with the musical artist and focuses on her career. She flies to California where she and her friend visit Harmony’s apartment. Julia is determined to find the dealer who sold Harmony the drugs she overdosed on, but it’s harder than expected.

Julia is working on The Trainer when she and Andrew finalize their divorce and custody battle. Julia doesn’t want to be with Andrew anymore, but he proves to be a good dad to Valentino.

Julia focuses on starting over. The Harmony Korine campaign goes well, and she develops her fashion line. She and Andrew figure out how to raise Valentino together. She reflects on her life, remembers her friends, and acknowledges her accomplishments.