A working-class mother has held only one hope for her entire life: that one day, her daughter would marry well and wealthy, and take care of her in her old age. When her daughter reveals that the man she loves is not wealthy, her mother's dreams of rest are dashed and divided.

A woman's complicated relationship to her mother is captured in three vignettes: one from directly after her death, one from when she is still alive, and one from years after she is gone.

An overprotective mother attempts to get her teenage daughter to tell her why she is so upset. In an erratic and panicked conversation, the daughter reveals an unimaginable problem they must tackle together.

A Jewish mother wants her daughter to marry well and have a better life, but her husband doesn't seem to care. After her other daughter passes away, she realizes she should not hesitate to make bigger sacrifices.

One Mother's Day, two old women reflect on their relationships with their children--present and absent--and with the same adulterous man. When their paths cross at a crucial moment, one woman's refusal to accept the help of her husband's secret lover leads to her death.

Over dinner, an observer reflects on mothers and their omnipresent prevalence in children’s lives.

A mother, upon helping a girl at a playground one day, contemplates the nature of her marriage and the daughter who came from it.

Three daughters in Florida care for their mother in the late stages of her cancer, meanwhile addressing their own strained relationships and trauma.

The lives of a teenage girl in an abusive relationship, an elderly mother looking to make amends, and an unfaithful wife converge on an unexpected evening.

A young, African-Carib girl is raised by the woman who does her father's laundry after her mother dies in childbirth. Feeling a lack of love in her life, the girl seeks to understand her relationship with her distant father and dead mother.