In In and Down, Michael and Stephen are young brothers growing up with no female influence in their lives. Through their father's emotional absence and abuse, they come to believe women do not truly exist. One of the boys draws into himself, looking for answers to the confusion in his life, and throughout this descent, he experiences his past as though through a distorted carnival mirror. When he emerges from his inner journey, he is forced to confront a secret that has been buried deep inside for over thirty years.