A terminally ill mother and her three adult children are forced to confront mortality in this intimate story of life, joy and loss. Broken into three parts, the contrasting grief journeys are seen through the lens of each child, as they all face their own multifaceted struggle with impermanence.

SYNOPSIS:

Vianne, a feisty, almost seventy-year-old, has received a terminal cancer diagnosis and is determined to die at her home in regional Victoria. Her oldest child Connie, a detached and somewhat hard-headed individual has made the decision to be her mother’s sole, end-of-life carer. The two younger children, Quinn and Amal, both come to keep vigil as Vianne’s passing looms. Each child has a different way of grieving – each approach shaped by their individual circumstances and their courage or desire to confront the truth. For Connie, denial and pragmatism allow her to hold grief at arms length. Quinn, a single gay father to Lachie is more of a quiet observer – who possesses an emotional maturity and innate ability to hold space for his mother so she can express her fears, reservations and beliefs. Spirited and passionate Amal, adopted from Sri Lanka as a baby, is the last to arrive at his mother’s bedside. The feelings of abandonment he holds for his birthmother suddenly begin to intermingle with the imminent loss of the woman who brought him up as her own. He desperately tries to reconcile his own sense of cultural identity and his place as a brown man who was raised in a white, Western world. As Vianne tackles her impending death with humour and humility, the onus falls on each child to face the inevitable and choose presence and peace, or let this milestone moment pass them by.