Seventeen year old Sam has been on a self-destructive spiral that could lead to his death. He returns home from boarding school to find his wheelchair-bound English grandmother, Ruth has moved in. Ruth is an ex- war photographer with a lust for life and a love of the bottle. Sam soon finds himself deeply confronted by her alcoholic wit and nerve. Their first meeting is awkward. Their second meeting is kind of violent. Things get worse when Sam finds himself stranded alone with her and her nurse Sarah for the school holidays. Both strong-willed characters, a battle of supremacy ensues, enabling Sam to embrace life again and for Ruth to face her mortality.