Alice Ferris [Jennifer Ehle] is a wealthy mother who lives in a stately home in the peaceful countryside of Bedfordshire, sharing the space with her American husband Jim [Danny Huston], a packaging company owner, and their two children, Jack [Mark Wells] and Elyssa [Amelia Warner].
When Jim is diagnosed with an incurable illness and soon passes away, Brede Norton [Trudie Styler] moves in to support the family. Elyssa is deeply traumatized by her father’s death, and Alice and Brede decide to send her to a children’s clinic to help her recover. In the wake of this loss, Alice meets a painter named Clive Lamis [Patrick Baladi], who has endured a similar grief, and he moves into the family home. The arrangement stirs tension within the house: Jack disapproves of the new relationship, grows distant from his mother, and becomes openly hostile toward Clive.
Years pass, and Jack, now 21, lives with his girlfriend Maliika [Jemma Powell]. For his birthday, Alice arranges a party to bring the family back together. He initially resists attending but eventually joins the gathering. At the party, Nathan Lamis [Ellis Hollins], Clive’s son, nearly drowns after slipping into the family pool, and Jack manages to rescue him, an act that unearths old emotions and unsettled loyalties. Elyssa, now grown, experiences a clear manifestation of Jim that helps her confront and move past her trauma, offering a quiet, haunting form of solace.
Throughout the night and in the days that follow, the family faces difficult conversations and uncomfortable memories, yet there is a slow, stubborn effort to heal. The bond between mother and son, the role of Clive in their lives, and the shared grief that initially pulled them apart begin to shift as they confront what has happened and what they want their future to be. In the end, the family puts their differences aside and finds a path toward reconciliation, choosing to support one another as they navigate a future that could be brighter than their past.
