Kim has been in drug rehab for nine months, she gets a temporary leave to attend her sister Rachel’s wedding. She is staying at her dads and stepmother’s house where the wedding is going to take place. When her sister Rachel sees her she seems genuinely happy she was able to make it. It is very obvious there is a lot of tension in the family. The father dotes on Kim watching her every move, so she doesn’t take a wrong turn. Kim gets hurt when she discovered her sister Rachel has asked someone else to be her maid of honor. When she voices her anger concerning this Rachel changes her mind and makes Kim her maid of honor.
During the rehearsal dinner Kim is not seated with the rest of the family she is put at the end of the table with Rachel’s friends. Kim feels very left out and shows her resentment by toasting the couple by apologizing for everything she has done wrong in her life. Because of this Kim and Rachel end up having a big fight and Rachel announces she is pregnant. During all the chaos Rachel has to leave daily to attend her meetings for addiction. While in a session, she opens up and tells the members about a tragedy that happened to her a few years earlier.
When she was 16 she had taken a bunch of Percocet’s and was taking care of her baby brother. She took him to a park close by , on the way home she lost control of the car drove off a bridge into a lake. Her brother was trapped in the car strapped in his car seat and drowned. Kim tried to get him out but was unable to do so. She has never forgiven herself for this. The sisters and brides maids are getting their hair done for the wedding , when a man from Kim’s rehab approaches her and begins to thank her for the strength she gave him on having dealt with having been molested by an uncle and having to take care of her sister who was anorexic.
Rachel hears the man and storms out of the salon; she is so upset because the story he was talking about turns out to be nothing but a lie. So Kim instead of talking about her actual addiction felt the need to make up a story that made her look good. When Kim comes home from the salon she and Rachel again have another huge fight. It comes out that Rachel still blames Kim for killing their brother Ethan. Kim storms out of the house heading to her mother’s needing some answers from her. Once there she confronts her mom wanting to know why she left her baby brother in her care knowing she was drinking and taking pills.
Her mother tells her she was always at her best when she was with Ethan. She won’t blame Kim for his death or take any responsibility for her own mistakes. Kim’s mother ends up hitting her in the mouth and she in turn hits her back. She leaves in the car crying the whole time, she doesn’t take the turn instead drives straight into a huge rock where she ends up spending the night in the car. The next day the police wake her up and make her take a sobriety test, after she passes she gets a ride home for the wedding.
She faces her sister with a black eye and busted lip. Rachel comforts her, baths and dresses her for her wedding. Rachel gets married and Kim is the maid of honor and stands by her sisters side proudly. During the reception Kim keeps watching her mother wanting to approach her but for some reason keeps holding back. Before she gets the courage her mom leaves early stating she has plans to leave out early the next morning. Again Kim is left just standing watching her mom leave without accomplishing anything.
The next day Kim has to go back to rehab, the worker has arrived to pick her up as she starts to get into the car Rachel runs out to the car and hugs and kisses Kim. She tells Kim to please keep in touch with her. The movie impacted me by the fact the family has so many unresolved issues. She has been in rehab for 9 months why have they not had any family therapy? Her sister is getting her PHD in psychology of all things why has she not used some of her knowledge to help this family move forward? I thought this was highly suggested to anyone pursuing this career.
If she doesn’t face her own demons she won’t be able to help others face theirs. I wish the movie had more information on the actual counseling process; instead it only focused on group therapy. Treatment was 9 plus months in rehab. The movie showed Kim had hurt her family in so many ways due to her drinking and taking to many pills. I think she showed up at to many family functions strung out on drugs and she humiliated her family and was an embarrassment to them. They had a hard time trusting she is actually getting help and will stay clean.
