James White

James White attends his father's funeral service in New York, where he confronts the reality of his dad's absence. He is joined by his father's new wife Karen and by his friend Nick, who offer support. Ben, a family friend who works for a magazine, approaches him with sympathy and mentions the possibility of finding him a job.

After the service, James tells his mother that he needs to get away and plans to return to Mexico with Nick. They feel the weight of the last four years and believe they have carried each other through difficult times.

James parties in Mexico and meets Jayne, a girl from New York who shares his taste for partying. Gail calls to bring him back home, and Jayne decides to come along; he learns she is underage. They ultimately reveal she is in high school.

Back in Mexico, Gail's condition worsens and she ends up in the emergency room; doctors tell them she needs hospice rather than a hospital stay. James struggles to understand why he didn't realize how sick she is, while Gail uses her knowledge of the year and the president to persuade them to let her go home.

That night, James, Nick, and Jayne attend a party, drinking and dancing until the morning. They awaken in a motel room, and James feels the weight of his responsibilities toward his mother pressing on him.

Back home, James goes to a job interview with Ben, arriving smelling of alcohol and presenting a handwritten writing sample. Ben says there is no job available, and James lies to his mother about having secured one.

That night, Gail experiences a spell where she cannot speak, which she attributes to a brain freeze. James feels increasing confusion and helplessness as the illness advances.

Gail's temperature spikes above 103 degrees; the doctor prescribes fever management at home with wet towels and Tylenol. James consoles her as she vomits and, to ease the moment, imagines they are in Paris, a wind-blown life where she is a grandmother taking the kids to the Louvre.

One month later, Gail and James share a candid heart-to-heart; she reminds him that without his father there would be no James. A little later, James tells her he loves her.

James experiences a rising panic as he senses the end of Gail's life drawing near. He struggles to breathe and feels the weight of impending loss pressing down on him.

James returns to Gail to find she has died; he gently closes her eyes in a quiet farewell. Nick arrives and hands him money, offering practical and emotional support as James processes the loss.

James steps outside onto the street to smoke a cigarette, staring blankly into space as the full weight of his mother's death begins to settle in.