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An exercise in chronological displacement, Total Loss begins and ends with the spectacular crash of a car carrying three drunken men, one of whom survives after being thrown from the wreckage. From the film's subsequent action, which takes place during the 24 hours preceding the crash, audiences learn that Ranier (Yorick van Wageningen) is a houseboy and all-around Guy Friday to Duco (Roef Ragas), an arrogant doctor who took Ranier in after he escaped a drug deal gone bad. Duco, a closeted homosexual, is attracted to Ranier and gives him lavish gifts even as he humiliates him with sadistic relish. One evening, Ranier discovers the near-frozen, unconscious body of Jeroen (Franky Ribbens) on Duco's property and nurses him to health. Once conscious, Jeroen tells his savior that he tried to off himself with pills after smothering to death his much-loved, Alzheimer's-ravaged father; Ranier in turn confesses his involvement in the aforementioned drug deal, further complicated by his pursuit by an old, allegedly dead colleague. Meanwhile, Duco is making trouble for Ranier; after doing cocaine with Jeroen, he demands Ranier drive them to a New Year's Eve party hosted by Duco's parents, where he plans to embarrass them in front of their guests by announcing his homosexuality. As the car carrying the trio lurches towards the inevitable crash, tensions heighten and tempers combust.