The film opens in New York City during the year 1941. Barton Fink is a novice Jewish-American playwright, who has just had his first great success at the Broadway stage. He wrote a play about the struggles and aspirations of common fishmongers. He aspires to write more plays about the lives of the working class, as he finds them more interesting than the kings and the aristocracy. His agent instead convinces him to sign a lucrative screenwriting contract with Capitol Pictures, a Los Angeles-based film studio. Fink settles into the life of a hack writer, though he is not truly suited for the job. His first assignment is to work on the script of a B-Movie about wrestling, though he does not even know the basics about this form of entertainment. Fink becomes a long-term resident of the Hotel Earle, a decaying relic of the art deco era. Feeling lonely, Fink befriends his next door-neighbor, the insurance salesman Charlie Meadows. He views Meadows as a typical working stiff, but he likes sharing drinks with him. Fink seeks writing advice from the experienced novelist and screenwriter W. P. Mayhew, but soon realizes that the man is an abusive alcoholic whose career has declined. Fink finds a love interest in Audrey Taylor, Mayhew's personal secretary, long-term mistress, and the ghost writer behind most of Mayhews' recent works. After Taylor is murdered in Fink's bedroom, a traumatized Fink becomes increasingly emotionally dependent on Meadows. Shortly after, two police detectives inform Fink that Meadows is actually wanted serial killer Karl Mundt, who typically decapitates his victims. Fink slowly realizes Meadows' hidden agenda, while finding himself out of favor with his boss at the film studio.