There are those who say that Ireland is comprised of five provinces: four on the earthly plane and one in the passionate domain of magic and endless possibilities. It is the latter province wherein true love abides. This hypnotic, surreal fairy tale in its latter stages makes great fun of Alfred Hitchcock's landmark film Psycho. Introverted, socially isolated Timmy works by day as the keeper of a guest house and by night as an aspiring writer. He lives with his mentally unbalanced mother and dreams of a romantic involvement with Ireland's homely lady Prime Minister, a secret he shares only with his slightly off-kilter psychiatrist. Timmy loses his guest house when a major motorway is constructed nearby. One day, however, he is visited by Marcel, a time-travelling Spaniard who has a profound effect on Timmy's life and upon the lives of those around him. The changes begin when Timmy goes to an international writing conference and becomes a student of sophisticated, beautiful Belgian writer Diana de Brie. She pooh-poohs the naive Timmy's rather provincial work, but ends up falling in love with him. Thanks to the magical Marcel, Timmy later has Diana come to Ireland to visit his guest house where she discovers herself in an increasingly weird situation. It is in the story's latter stages that the spoof of Psycho begins.