Severance is a human interest story about a drunken drifter's attempts to reconcile with his long estranged daughter. Former Air Force officer Ray Ponti (Lou Liotta) fell apart and lost everything after the auto accident that kills his wife. As the film opens, he hasn't seen his daughter in years. She was a child at the time of the accident, and is now working as a go-go dancer, although Ray tells people she's away in college. In a moment of quirky idealism, Ray offends the members of a drug ring, and is forced to flee town in a car borrowed from a girl friend. He decides to go see daughter Cly (Lisa Nicole-Wolpe in the old family home, which she has just bought back. Their attempts at reconciliation form the focus of the story.