Carrie Watts is living the twilight of her life trapped in an apartment in 1940’s Houston, Texas with a controlling daughter-in-law and a hen-pecked son. Her fondest wish — just once before she dies — is to revisit Bountiful, the small Texas town of her youth which she still refers to as “home.”

Ellie is a 27-year old whose life is far from where she imagined it to be. Filled with annoying friends, a self-involved boyfriend, and a career that she can’t bring herself to pursue, Ellie feels detached from her life. When she learns that her estranged alcoholic father has died, her world is disrupted and she begins a journey that takes her to a small town in Texas. While dealing with the logistical arrangements of her father’s death Ellie has to confront what happens when the structures and safety nets we build for ourselves come undone.

Hairdresser Nadine Hightower wants to retrieve the risqué photos she once posed for, but when she visits the photographer at his office, he’s murdered by an intruder. Nadine talks her estranged husband, Vernon, into going along when she returns to the office, where they stumble across plans for a less than legal construction project. But when Vernon tries to turn the documents into a cash windfall, he and Nadine are pursued by goons with guns.

Aurora and Emma are mother and daughter who march to different drummers. Beginning with Emma’s marriage, Aurora shows how difficult and loving she can be. The movie covers several years of their lives as each finds different reasons to go on living and find joy. Aurora’s interludes with Garrett Breedlove, retired astronaut and next door neighbor are quite striking.