Rebel Without a Cause tells the story of teenager Jim Stark and his friends, Judy and Plato. Jim moves to a new town where he proceeds to get into trouble. His mother is overbearing while his father is passive, and Jim has no respect for either of them. Judy also has problems with her parents since her father is a cold man who lords over her weak mother, and poor Plato has no father at all. One sorrowful night, these three lonely people end up connecting.

When Jim plays chicken with Buzz Gunderson, the head honcho at his school, Buzz runs his car off a cliff. After Buzz dies, Jim, Judy, and Plato retreat to an abandoned mansion. Buzz's friends find them there, and Plato kills one of them. Plato runs to hide in the nearby observatory, but when they try to get him to come out safely...