Grace, Annette Bening, and Edward, Bill Nighy, have spent 29 years in a seaside home in Seaford, Sussex, perched near the towering cliffs of Hope Gap. Their marriage is strained: Grace is devout, deeply literary, emotionally demanding, and at times physically abusive, often voicing dissatisfaction with Edward’s quiet, passive nature. Edward, a high school history teacher, is withdrawn and unhappy, retreating into silence to avoid conflict and the chance of further friction.
Their adult son, Jamie, Josh O'Connor, travels from London to visit for the weekend at Edward’s request. On arrival, Edward privately shares a painful confession: he intends to leave Grace the next day. He reveals that he has fallen in love with Angela, Sally Rogers, the mother of a former student, and that they have been seeing each other for a year. Jamie is devastated, yet he agrees not to warn his mother.
The next day, Grace is away at church when Edward packs his bags and leaves to start a new life with Angela. When she returns, he breaks the news, and Grace is blindsided, initially clinging to the idea that this is just a marital dispute rather than a final break. Edward insists there is no path to reconciliation and moves out to live with Angela.
In the weeks that follow, Grace swings between denial, rage, and deep despair. She refuses to sign divorce papers and tries to coerce Edward into returning, even impulsively buying a puppy she cannot properly care for. Jamie is called back to Seaford repeatedly to mediate, caught between his mother’s volatility and his father’s stubborn silence.
Grace eventually tracks down Angela’s home and confronts the couple, but the meeting only solidifies Edward’s resolve to leave. Angela tells Grace that before the separation there were three unhappy people, but now there is only one.
Struggling to find meaning, Grace contemplates suicide at the cliffs of Hope Gap, but she is deterred by the thought of the lasting trauma it would inflict on Jamie. She gradually rebuilds her life, discovering purpose by volunteering at a crisis helpline, where she uses her own experience of grief to help others in crisis.
Months pass and the family gathers again for a final, calmer meeting to formalize the divorce. Grace tells Edward she is no longer unhappy, but simply getting there, and she presents him with a copy of the poetry anthology she has been compiling. The film closes with Jamie walking alone on the cliffs, while Grace’s voice files a meditation on what Hope Gap represents—a space between the life one hopes for and the reality one must endure.
> "Hope Gap" — the space between the life one hopes for and the reality one must endure.
