It is 1953 and Pearlie, a dutiful housewife, is living in the Sunset district of San Francisco, caring not only for her husband's fragile health but also for her son, who is afflicted with polio. Then, one Saturday morning, someone from her husband's past appears on their doorstep. His arrival throws all the certainties by which Pearlie has lived into doubt, and she is brought face to face with the desperate measures people are prepared to take to escape the confines of their lives.