Beverly Moody, Gemma Brooke Allen, is a middle schooler living in Spokane during the last months of 1999, raised by her grandmother Gail, Julie Bowen, a USPS mail carrier who grieves the death of Beverly’s teen parents in a car accident when Beverly was just a toddler. Gail’s sorrow makes her wary of Beverly’s constant questions about Kim, Beverly’s mother, and she fears losing Beverly the same way she lost Kim. This tension leaves Beverly feeling isolated and picked on at school, where two bullies harass her with regular cruelty.
One day Beverly uncovers her parents’ mixtape, titled “Love Riot,” only for the Walkman to eat the tape, making it unplayable. Determined to learn more about her parents, she sets out on a quest to reconstruct the songs in the correct order and timing, hoping the mixtape will reveal a hidden message from its creator. The search begins with the reluctant help of Edward, a local record-store owner known as Anti, Nick Thune. Edward explains that a mixtape isn’t just a random collection of songs; the order, the spacing between tracks, and other subtle details create a deliberate message from the maker.
Edward places the first song on Beverly’s list: “Getting Nowhere Fast” by Girls at Our Best. From there, Beverly must locate the remaining tracks in sequence—“Linda Linda” by the Blue Hearts, “I Got a Right” by the Stooges, and “Teacher’s Pet” by The Quick—each connection drawing her closer to the people who shaped her parents’ lives and, by extension, to Beverly herself.
Throughout the journey, Beverly forms meaningful friendships with Ellen, a Taiwanese transfer student, and Nicky, a formidable girl who shares a love of music. Together, the three girls bond over their passion, and they even experiment with music using instruments from Nicky’s brother’s band, turning their scavenged sounds into something new and personal. Their adventure also takes them to a magical, abandoned place—More than This—where Beverly’s parents’ history is somehow kept alive in the memories that linger there.
In the course of their search, they track down a musician Kim knew and press Anti to bring them to his gig. Beverly shows him a Polaroid of him with Kim. At first, the musician doesn’t want to engage, but when he finally looks, he remembers Kim as a brilliant lyricist—yet he dismisses her for having a baby and seemingly abandoning music.
The emotional strain grows heavy for Beverly. Upset by the weight of the past and ongoing bullying, she withdraws from the quest, only to rebound when her friends plead with her to keep going. A confrontation with the bullies ends with Beverly’s impulsive act of damaging the wheels of their wheelchair, which leads to her suspension but also marks a turning point in her willingness to stand up for herself.
Back home, Beverly and Gail begin to repair their relationship. Gail finds an opportunity to open up about Kim and reconnects with Anti, while Ellen and Nicky perform for Beverly’s family a version of The Kinks’ “Better Things” to lift her spirits. Gail’s discovery of the discarded mixtape list inspires her to share the truth about Kim, culminating in a recording of “The Wrong Song,” written and sung by Beverly’s mom and dad, which helps Gail feel their presence again.
The film crescendos as the three girls perform songs inspired by the mixtape as Us Dudes R Sisters at a New Year’s Eve party. The event brings together Beverly, Ellen, Nicky, their families, and Anti in a celebration that honors memory, friendship, and the healing power of music.
Overall, the story blends grief, resilience, and friendship with a love of music that transcends loss. The characters’ journeys are grounded in genuine emotion and small, hopeful moments—the kind of personal discovery that turns a kid’s search for clues about her parents into a broader search for belonging and voice. The finale leaves us with a sense of unity and possibility, anchored by the intimate performances and the renewed bond between Beverly, her grandmother, and their friends.
