A mother and her thirteen-year-old son spend their first Christmas in Galway, where festivities go smoothly until the son suddenly disappears the morning after Christmas.

In an attempt to impress his emotionally distant father, a boy ridicules his mother, who has loved him unconditionally even in his father's absence. Wracked with guilt, he yearns for her forgiveness - only to find that she does not hold it against him.

An Italian family waits anxiously for the return of a brother who is serving in the First World War, but the family dynamic devolves as the days pass and he does not come home.

In 20th century Russia, a Korean-Russian mechanic's childhood best friend suddenly returns to their hometown. Their unexpected reunion stirs memories from their families' intertwined past and forces the mechanic to confront the disappearance of his Russian mother.