In a bustling New York loft, optimistic Joline marries photographer Carl, blending life with work as she runs a nightclub while he wrestles with a tension between artistic aspirations and journalism. He’s unhappy with being assigned to shoot food for his newspaper when he believes his true talent lies in capturing news. Joline’s sunny view of marriage anchors their early days together, even as the strain of divergent careers quietly grows.
The quiet crack comes when Joline returns home to the sound of Carl’s depressed, unanswered message. She calls her brother Jay, who offers a place to stay, and the next morning she speaks with a stubborn certainty about the sanctity of marriage—a belief not shared by his lesbian roommates. Back at the loft, the mood shifts sharply: Carl has moved out after about a year and a half of marriage, leaving behind only a note that says he needs space and a bouquet of daisies—Joline’s favorite flowers.
The aftermath of the split pulls Joline into a daze, her mind looping between heartbreak and the stubborn faith she has in love. She throws herself into her plans and, perhaps as a way to reclaim control, stages a surprise birthday party for Carl. The moment turns surreal when a random postcard arrives on that same day. After presenting the cake to the guests, she slips out a bathroom window into the alley, where a chance encounter with a carjacker becomes a small act of mercy—she gives him money to reach his mother, a moment that briefly restores her belief in goodness.
A trail of memory leads Joline to Texas, where she pieces together Carl’s life from a photograph she spots in the El Paso Times. She tracks him to his mobile home, and a quiet stakeout begins. Carl’s schedule and routines become the map she follows, aided by a quirkily perceptive neighbor, Neil, a sculptor who can’t help flirting with Joline as she keeps her vigil. Her pursuit takes her into the newsrooms, where she confronts the photo editor and gently suggests that Carl’s talents go beyond food photography, hinting at a broader, more compelling range of work. She asks the editor to forget her words for fear of jeopardizing Carl’s job, yet the seed of possibility remains.
The emotional maze expands as Joline discovers Carl kissing Carmen outside her house. The encounter drops her into a precarious emotional space, and a late-night car nap is interrupted by Carmen’s knock on the window. Inside, Carmen shares the reality of dating an adulterer, while Joline’s brother Jay arrives with plans to take her home. Yet Joline resists leaving, choosing to stay and try to help Carl, a decision that marks the beginning of a complex, protective bond with Carmen’s circle, including Carmen herself and her mystic grandfather.
A new layer of dynamics unfolds as Jay and Carmen grow closer, and Neil’s provocative flirtation continues from the sidelines. T-Bo, a trucker, appears at Carl’s door, and Joline stands guard. The tension peaks with a ritual—Carl’s home is infused with a protective remedy crafted by the mystic grandfather, who mediates a blend of superstition and care. Joline sprinkles the remedy through the house, believing she’s safeguarding everything that once connected them. Carl interprets this as a intrusion on luck, arguing that his luck has improved in his career without her presence, unaware of her quiet influence.
The confrontation escalates to a test of will. Carl throws her out again, and Joline remains determined to keep a spiritual watch over his life. She, Jay, and Carmen set up camp across the road, sleeping under the stars as the situation grows more fraught. When Carl confronts them, the trio speaks up, challenging his cold stance. In a climactic moment, Joline breaks a window and leaves eggs under his bed, a symbolic turning point that leads to police involvement and her subsequent removal to a mental hospital.
Freedom and reckoning arrive when Carmen’s grandfather intercedes and releases Joline, who heads straight back to Carl’s doorstep. A new peril emerges as T-Bo threatens Carl, and Joline acts decisively, knocking out the aggressor with a bat and freeing Carl from danger and, in a sense, from the strained marriage they endured. The return to New York City is marked by a renewed resolve on Joline’s side, while Carl quietly reenters her life, only to be met with a firm, decisive end as Joline karate-kicks him to the ground, signaling a definitive break from a relationship that once defined her.
The final image lingers. Joline attends Jay and Carmen’s wedding in El Paso, surrounded by family and friends as the desert sun sinks low. The camera backs away, and Joline’s voice—narrating—speaks of leaps of faith, noting that such leaps can appear stupid or bold, maddening or miraculously lucky. The ending leaves a resonant sense that true commitment sometimes requires letting go, stepping into the unknown, and choosing one’s own path even when love’s longstanding assurances are no longer enough.
