A death in the family: One night, Nina's mother Natalie, a photographer, dies in what seems to be an accident in their home in the Northern California foothills. In a retrospective that begins and ends with Natalie's death, Nina chronicles the months that led up to this night, trying to assess her share of the blame. She tells how she runs into Nick, Natalie's ex-boyfriend, and how for the best of reasons - planning to bring the two back together - she does the wrong thing, grilling Nick about his and Natalie's breakup, and learning more than she can stand. Trying to quit seeing him, she realizes she is in too deep. Going home to confess, she finds herself listening instead to Natalie's own confession and is too shocked to tell her what she came to say. That same night, Natalie dies, and when Nina concludes her retrospective with a second account of the incident, it is hardly the same story.