Synopsis

Opens with a cheerful and happy family household, in which the mother and father welcome daughter and partner who are anticipating telling the rest of the family their news.

As they begin their meal together, they discuss how far away the daughter lives and how lovely it is that she is there. As the daughter is about to reveal the news, the father excuses himself to the toilet and leaves the table.

Father enters the bathroom, looks in the mirror, takes drugs and washes his face. He looks at himself in disgust, ashamed of who he's become.

Father then stumbles back downstairs, with pan and focus-pull of contrasting mood of the happy family eating their meal. The father looks from a distance at the happy family and is too ashamed to go back, so leaves house and drives off.

Close up of champagne being popped open, Mum questions posh champagne and daughter goes to make an announcement but realises Dad isn't there when she sees his empty chair.

Dissolves through shots of time passing during meal, with parallel cuts to Dad driving. Contrapuntal sound of happy music acts as a sound bridge for driving shots.

Mum goes into spare room to check if the daughter and partner have got everything. The daughter expresses her worry for her Dad, but Mum reassures her he has been doing this recently and will be back in the next few hours, so they get some sleep.

As the sun rises, we see it peek through the stain glassed windows of the church, with a shot behind the father sat inside.

When waking up in the morning, the family are in shock that the father is still missing so split off in different directions around the village, with the daughter heading to the church. Just as the father drives off and out of shot, the daughter arrives and runs into the church.

The daughter searches the church and almost leaves, but then catches a glimpse of the note on a pew. She reads the note with the voice of the father's voice, with parallel cuts between her distressed emotions and the father walking towards the cliff edge.

As she finishes reading the note, the daughter remembers the Dad's 'happy place' as we are shown in a flashback of a picnic overlooking the cliff. She begins to run to the car in dismay. She reaches Beachy Head and initially doesn't see him, but then does as she looks to the side. She runs towards the Dad, who is now standing on the edge of the cliff. She is screaming for him, but we see that all he can hear is the wind.

The daughter reaches the Dad just before he jumps, and tells him she's pregnant. They then hug with an extremely emotional soundtrack.

The film ends back at the house, showing the happy family now with a baby, and the Dad goes to the bathroom. Instead of taking drugs, he throws them all away.