Crazy ex-professor James Pettis (Kilmer) wants to prove his theory of the effects of global warming so he traps six people in a Tampa bathhouse. He vows to turn up the heat on his hostages until his theories get published on the front page of the newspaper. This isn't torture porn so the steambath stuff quickly gets dull and it may be all a delusion on Pettis' part, which is what Detective Mancini (Assante) has to figure out.