A mother of three daughters (one died at the age of three) commits a crime of conscience and becomes radicalized in prison; she turns into an idealist run amok, determined to change her little corner of the world for the better. Her middle daughter, with a physician for a father, an older sister who joins Doctors Without Borders, and a baby sister who dies, is fanatically trying to find a place for herself in this family of overachievers.

Actress Myrtle Gordon is a functioning alcoholic who is a few days from the opening night of her latest play, concerning a woman distraught about aging. One night a car kills one of Myrtle's fans who is chasing her limousine in an attempt to get the star's attention. Myrtle internalizes the accident and goes on a spiritual quest, but fails to finds the answers she is after. As opening night inches closer and closer, fragile Myrtle must find a way to make the show go on.