Agnes (played by Molly Parker), in the midst of a struggle to overcome her own self destructive behaviour, returns to Sydney-Nova Scotia from Toronto because of the failing health of her mother Rose (Marguerite McNeil). She is met by her older sister Theresa, a devout Catholic who has recently been dumped by her husband for a younger woman, and Louise (Stacy Smith), the middle child who has retreated from the outside world. Her arrival sets in motion a chain of events that allows the family to reconnect with the world and one another.