John Howland, an adjunct professor at a community college in Arizona, travels with his fiancée Melissa to Maine for the annual family meeting and for his sister Bridget's wedding. They meet on an island at the family home, which has been passed down since the seventeenth century. John and his sister were raised there by their grandparents after their own parents abandoned them. The day before the wedding, John's grandfather announces that he plans on getting in a hole he's dug and dying tomorrow, and that he is leaving the house to John. This causes unrest among the relatives. John and Melissa head back to their hotel, and John reveals that though he proposed, Melissa never fully committed to marry him. The following day, they head back to the house. John and Melissa talk about their relationship but don't come to any resolutions. Bridget appears and asks John to look after their grandfather. She also asks him about the future of the house, proposing that they should split it, since she is the only one in the family with money. Bridget returns to her wedding, and John and Melissa pass by the house. John's uncle confronts him about the inheritance and says that the grandfather is mentally unwell. As John heads out to find his grandfather, he is interrupted by the groom of the wedding, who chats more about a partnership between John and his sister, the groom's future wife. When John gets back to searching, he eventually finds his grandfather back in the hole. He says it's not working, so John helps him get out, hurting himself in the process. His grandfather hops on his electric tricycle and rides towards the sea. John jogs after him, trying to tell him that he doesn't want to inherit the house. His grandfather doesn't seem to listen as he drives out to the dock, boards a boat, and sails out into the water. At the dock, Melissa meets up with John. He asks her if she will really marry him, and she dodges the question, instead examining his wound.