An Unnamed Narrator with Insomnia (Paul Dano) is living a boring life, working as a vehicle recall specialist, living in a condo, with Swedish Furniture. He goes to support groups around the city so he can sleep. One day at one support group, he runs into a woman named Marla Singer (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), he knows that she's a liar like him, he confronts her and threatens to expose her, but she does the same. On an airplane he meets Tyler Durden (Ryan Gosling), a soap maker, waiter, and projectionist. When he returns to his condo, he sees that it's been blown up. He meets Tyler at a bar, where Tyler asks him for a favor, 'Hit him as hard as he can'.
