While out on the ocean with his wife, Scott Carey's boat drifts through a strange mist that leave a metallic residue covering his body. He thinks nothing of it at the time but within a few weeks he begins to notice that he is losing weight. A visit to the doctor also confirms that he is getting shorter. As he gets smaller and smaller, doctors determine that his exposure to insecticides followed by what must have been a radioactive mist has caused a genetic mutation. The manage to stop his reversal, but only temporarily. Eventually, he is small to the point where encounters with the household cat and later a spider become potentially deadly situations.