Depressed cab driver Vince McKee—bored with his job with its ghastly fares, out of love with wife Ros, and disrespected by his schoolgirl daughter Katie—encounters Colin Vine, an old friend just released from incarceration for armed robbery. Ros detests him, but Vince takes up his invitation to play poker at the house of a man known as The Horse. The Horse offers Vince a cryptic and clearly illegal driving job, though it does come with a smart new car. The first two jobs go well, albeit not entirely without incident. The next, however, is far more sinister, as Colin attacks a man and bundles him into the boot.