A writer named Alex (Ben Stiller) and his girlfriend, Nancy (Drew Barrymore), move into a spacious duplex in Brooklyn, N.Y. The elderly woman (Eileen Essell) who lives on the building's top floor seems a sweet enough neighbor at first. But pretty soon her constant demands and accidents ruin Alex and Nancy's attempts at having the perfect home. Once they discover that the woman cannot be evicted, they resort to more permanent measures to get rid of her.