Hillary lives in a small village on the West Coast of Ireland with her husband, Dermot. Hillary is introverted and shy. She lacks confidence, which has been systematically stripped from her by Dermot. Dermot is a bully and a drunk and Hillary is full of disappointment with her life. She fears him and knows that he controls her. Their marriage is loveless and childless and she knows something is missing from her life - she craves love and affection, but not from Dermot. The only affection in her life she gets is from Timber, her beloved dog. She lives an almost reclusive lifestyle, finding comfort only in her garden. But it is not until a trip to the cinema just after her thirty-fifth birthday that her life changes forever.