Before You Go

Violet dies on the Isle of Man, leaving the sisters to cope with her passing. Teresa and Frank have cared for her in the years since, and they summon Mary and Catherine to return for the funeral. The family gathers to prepare for the ceremony and confront their memories of Violet.

Mary is placed in her deceased mother’s bedroom and begins to have visions of Violet while the family organizes the funeral. She searches the house for a small personal box of her belongings, but Teresa insists she hasn’t seen it. The tension over the box hints at unresolved family histories surfacing during the setup.

Catherine is portrayed as flighty and in debt, constantly chasing new partners. She’s dating a Spaniard named Javier, highlighting her precarious situation. The sisters don’t take her seriously, adding to the underlying tension.

The phone rings and signals disruption; Frank and Mike arrive, bringing new dynamics to the gathering. Mary recognizes Mike as a regular BBC medical presenter and drops to her knees, begging him to medicate her as she grieves. This moment shows how grief and desire mingle in the family dynamics.

The next morning Mary and Mike have a sexual encounter in the woods, complicating their relationship. Mary tells him she thinks she might be pregnant, but he reveals he had a vasectomy years ago. They return to the house where Teresa and Catherine have been drinking and sorting through their mother’s clothes.

Teresa and Catherine drink the liquor they found and frolic in Violet’s fancy dresses, using the moment to momentarily forget their troubles. They also sort through their mother’s clothes to give away, trying to restore some order amid the chaos. The scene mixes levity with foreboding for the funeral.

Frank arrives and goes to the pub with Teresa, where their tension comes to a head. He reveals he wants to quit selling supplements and buy and run a pub, which angers Teresa who feels he hasn’t been upfront about their relationship. The revelation deepens the mistrust between them.

The couple confronts Catherine as Javier dumps her over the phone, and she cries about how lonely she feels. She admits to having slept with many men, illustrating a pattern of unstable relationships and a craving for attention. Place: House

Later in the night, when Frank tries to rest, Catherine begs for his sympathy and makes a pass at him, revealing the ongoing boundary issues within the family. The moment shows how desperation intersects with affection in their fragile relationships. Place: House

The group walks into town to the pub where Teresa loudly embarrasses them. On the way back, Mary reveals that she was pregnant as a teenager and that the container she’s seeking holds Patrick’s birth certificate, hinting at a possible way for her to connect with her son. Mike responds that he does not want more children.

In the middle of the night, Violet guides Mary to the tin in the garage, hoping she will search for it. Teresa intercepts and takes the tin, intending to keep its contents hidden until the funeral the next day. The moment underscores the family's attempt to control secrets surrounding Patrick.

It is revealed that Patrick died at 13 after falling from a cliff, a hidden tragedy that casts a shadow over the family history. The event explains some of Violet’s protective stances and Mary’s complicated feelings about the past. Place: Cliff

Mary recalls Violet as brutal after her teenage pregnancy and a harsh slap, yet a clipping later reveals that she had embraced and supported her mother, resolving the memory’s contradictions. The scene emphasizes how memory can distort family history until new evidence surfaces.