Based on the eponymous poem by Spencer Reece, The Clerk's Tale is a psychological portrait of a gay man trapped in the monotonous routine of life at a high-end menswear store. For Spencer, every day is a sequence of mundane tasks and empty exchanges. He fits a customer, straightens a display, takes his usual break at his usual time. But all the while the presence of an aging gay colleague eats away at him. Watching this older man, with his affects and almost grotesque habits, Spencer becomes keenly aware of the future that awaits him.