Carlie’s mother Andrea, a night nurse and amateur actress, sleeps naked with Carlie every night, whispering to her that they’re the only two people in the world. She wins Carlie’s affection even when Carlie has every right to be uncomfortable – when she comes across Andy and her theater director Sy smoking weed in their underwear, when Sy asks Carlie to strip burnt skin off his back, when she abandons Carlie at a party and Carlie, horrified and scared, sees Andy’s castmates throw her into the pool. Andrea snaps at her daughter easily but isolates her so the behavior is normalized, encasing her daughter in her own opinions of life and love, adamant that Carlie is just like her. When Carlie’s older sister Serina declares she’s leaving home for Greenwich Village with her boyfriend, Andrea slaps her across the face and immediately entreats her for forgiveness. When Serina leaves Andy strips her bedroom with a vengeance, then asks Carlie to brush her hair in bed and say “I love you” aloud again and again.