Mark Austin (Kip Padue), a soft-spoken drifter in his 20s, travels to a small coastal town near Wilmington, North Carolina in order to save the endangered Loggerhead turtles that nest on the beach in the summer. Mark's journey brings us into contact with three other characters, each at the crossroads of their lives. George (Michael Kelly) is a local motel owner who has avoided dealing with his emotions. Grace Bellamy (Bonnie Hunt), a middle-aged airport car-rental agent recovering from a breakdown, has returned to her hometown in the mountains near Asheville to stay with her mother Sheridan (Michael Learned). Plagued by the desire to fill an emotional void, Grace embarks on a search for the child (Mark) she secretly gave up for adoption when she was a teenager. Elizabeth Austin (Tess Harper) has lived a fishbowl existence as the wife of minister Robert (Chris Sarandon) for 25 years in the small town of Eden. The Austins are the adoptive parents of Mark, but he ran away when they punished him for kissing a boy. Neighbor Rachel (Robin Weigert) says she knows his whereabouts, perhaps allowing for a chance of reconciliation for Elizabeth.
George, who is mourning the loss of a male partner who drowned, offers free lodging to Mark, who confesses that he is HIV-positive. Marc and George develop a romantic bond that is haunted by the tragedy of their pasts. As they become closer, Mark's spirit hovers over the lives of Elizabeth and Grace. Caught between maternal love and religious dogma, Elizabeth misses her only son terribly. She can't accept the fact that her son is gone, yet his homosexuality sits too uncomfortably with her husband. When two men and a little boy move into the house across the street, Elizabeth speculates that their new neighbors might be same sex lovers with an adopted son. Grace feels incomplete and has years of pent-up shame. She aches to reconnect with her long-lost son, and must fend off the judgment of her mother who would prefer her to forget it all and just move on.
Inspired by a true story, and set in three different geographical regions of North Carolina, the movie unfolds in three carefully layered separate storylines. The tale involves adoption, conservative Christianity, homosexuality, AIDS, intolerance, and the different layers of maternal guilt and grief. The script jumps around but eventually comes together in a kind-hearted melancholy way. It's slow, and the final ten minutes leads to a denouement that never takes place. It ends with unanswered questions. Filmed on location primarily in Wilmington, North Carolina in May, 2004. Mark Geary wrote the original score as well as two songs for the film. Tim Kirkman wrote the screenplay from Caitlin Dixon's story, and also directed.
