The Trip to Bountiful

Set in the post-World War II era of the 1940s, the film follows Carrie Watts, the elderly woman known as Mrs. Watts, played by Cicely Tyson, who longs to return to her childhood home in Bountiful, a small rural town along the Texas Gulf coast between Houston and Corpus Christi. Her wish faces resistance from her son Ludie Watts, [Blair Underwood], and his wife Jessie Mae Watts, [Vanessa Williams], who worry about her traveling alone. The town itself has faded since the Depression; long-term out-migration was driven by the wartime draft and the demand for industrial workers in war plants, leaving Bountiful diminished.

Determined to outwit them, Mrs. Watts sets out to catch a train, only to learn that trains no longer go to Bountiful. She eventually boards a bus to a town near her childhood home. On the journey, she befriends a woman traveling alone, Thelma, [Keke Palmer], and shares memories of her younger years and the relatives she has lost.

Back home, the search intensifies as her son and daughter-in-law track her down with help from the local police. The local sheriff, [Clancy Brown], moves with compassion and offers to drive her out to what remains of Bountiful.

The town is deserted and the few remaining structures are derelict. Mrs. Watts learns that the last occupant of the town—and the woman she had hoped to live with—has recently died. She is moved to tears as she surveys her father’s land and the remains of the family home.

Having confronted their shared history in Bountiful, the trio commit to living more peacefully together as they begin their drive back to Houston.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 13:07