- A family begins to fall apart when they find out their eldest daughter, Nicole, is a victim of schizophrenia.
- The movie opens with Dave Glover sadly watching home movies of his older daughter, Nicole, as a child. Flashbacks show Nicki's descent into schizophrenia. Several months earlier she was a college student, majoring in architecture. She had a supportive boyfriend, Jeff, and was close friends with her roommate, Jenny. Nicki was also growing closer to her younger sister, Lisa, a high school senior and budding musician.
On a weekend visit home, Nicki and her mother, Lynn, go jogging. During their run, they stop to chat with their neighbor, Mark, and his mother Helen. Mark and his fiancee are getting married soon. Lynn is just beginning a career as a photographer and she will be taking the wedding pictures. Nicki and Mark are good friends, having grown up together and sharing a first kiss. Lynn and Nicki continue their run but Nicki narrowly misses getting struck by a car. Lynn tells her to pay more attention.
While helping her mother prepare dinner, Nicki thinks she hears her father calling. She goes into his home office, where he has just set up a computer system that will enable him to link with his clients. But he didn't call her. As they leave the room, NIcki glances back at the dot matrix printer. Something about it seems to bother her.
Before Nicki returns to college, she and her family go on a picnic at the lake. Lisa takes her clarinet and plays a tune. She confides in Nicki that she is the only virgin in her entire class. Nicki warns her not to believe everything she hears. They exchange further confidences before it's time to eat.
Back at college, Nicki suddenly can't find her class and barges into the wrong room. As she leaves the building, she sees Jeff and Jenny talking and laughing together. In a rage, she accuses them of having an affair. Startled, they deny it but Nicki doesn't believe them. She returns home and tells her family that she and Jeff quarreled. Dave and Lynn are giving a party for his clients and a few of the neighbors. Lynn suggests that perhaps NIcki should stay in her bedroom, since she is so upset. But Nicki insists on attending the party.
Something is very wrong. Nicki makes inappropriate remarks and embarrasses Lisa by telling one of the neighbors that her sister, who babysits the neighbor's kids, really hates them. Mark wants Nicki to meet his fiancee but she goes into her father's office. Suddenly she begins wrecking the room, throwing the printer out the window and smashing the keyboard. Her parents rush to stop her, but Nicki is screaming and out of control. She believes voices are coming from the printer. As the guests watch in horror, Dave and Lynn drag NIcki from the house and take her to the hospital.
The diagnosis is schizophrenia, which Dave refuses to believe. He accuses the doctor of lying. Lynn reveals that Nicki is under terrible stress at college and has just quarreled with her boyfriend. She asks if the problem could be drug use, but the doctor says no. Schizophrenia often starts in young people Nicki's age. There is no cure, although medication can help. Dave angrily says that he is taking Nicki home. The doctor at first refuses to allow it, as Nicki has shown that she is a danger to herself. At last he agrees to release her as long as she takes the prescribed medication.
Nicki is terribly embarrassed at her behavior and apologizes repeatedly to her family. She doesn't like the side effects of the medication, but Lynn orders her to keep taking it. Against her parents' wishes, Nicki returns to college. She makes up with Jeff and Jenny. Deciding that she doesn't need the medication now, she throws it away. Soon her symptoms return. Jenny is terrified and calls Jeff, but Nicki drives away in her car. Unable to control the voices inside her head, she stops her car in the middle of the street, gets out, and sobs uncontrollably.
With a different doctor also diagnosing schizophrenia, Dave and Lynn have no choice but to believe it. The doctor wants to keep Nicki in the hospital for thirty days, trying different drugs to gauge her reaction. But she is already asking to leave and a hearing is held to determine if she is a danger to herself or others. On the medication, she is not. Dave and Lynn don't think they can handle her at home and want her to be committed. so she can get help. But the decision goes against them and they have no choice but to take her home. Dave reveals that his aunt was "crazy" and died in an institution. Lynn reassures him that Nicki's illness is not his fault.
Jeff visits but Nicki breaks up with him. Lynn speaks to him privately and explains Nicki's condition. As Nicki watches him drive away, she breaks down, realizing that the life she envisioned for herself is over.
The Glovers try to keep Nicki's condition a secret but gossip spreads. Lisa loses all her babysitting clients and Helen asks Lynn not to bring Nicki to Mark's wedding. Lynn tells her to find herself another photographer. Dave and Lynn try to find help for NIcki. Lynn attends a support group for parents of mentally ill children but Dave won't go with her. The stress is tearing them apart. Nicki can no longer be left alone and Lisa resents having to help look after her. Soon her insurance coverage runs out and the Glovers experience financial problems. They cannot afford to buy Lisa a new dress for her audition. Nicki offers to pay for it and Lisa accepts.
After NIcki accidentally starts a fire in the kitchen, Dave and Lynn realize they can no longer handle her at home. They place her in a mental facility which is poorly managed and offers no therapy. Nicki's days are spent in her room staring out the window. She remarks to her parents that she wishes she could fly away like the birds. Soon after, Nicki leaves the facility in the middle of the night. The nurse on duty was asleep at her post.
Dave and Lynn frantically search for their daughter. The police are called but there is very little they can do, as Nicki is an adult. She is shown wandering the streets, foraging for food in trash cans. After several days, she is arrested for refusing to pay for her meal in a diner. At first she cannot recall her name or address. A social worker asks what her mother calls her. Nicki then remembers her first name and since the Govers have filed a missing person report, she is reunited with her family.
There is still the problem of what to do with her. Lisa receives a letter of acceptance to college and throws it away. Lynn retrieves it and tells Lisa how proud they are of her. Lisa feels she cannot go to college, partly due to financial issues and partly because she fears becoming like NIcki. But Lynn promises her that they will find the money and it is unlikely that she will develop schizophrenia.
Believing that she has nothing left to live for, Nicki tries to commit suicide by overdosing on her medication. She is rushed to the hospital and survives. Lynn visits a halfway house for people like Nicki. To her surprise, the director is a schizophrenic but manages his condition quite well. The residents are all calm and busy with various activities. Some of them have jobs. The only problem is that the waiting list is several years long. But for the first time in months, Lynn experiences hope.
Nicki tries to help her father prepare dinner, but breaks the salad bowl. When Lynn returns home, she finds her family out back in the girls' old playhouse. They have ordered pizza and appear to be having a good time. She brings out her camera and takes pictures. Later, she and Dave discuss the halfway house. They aren't sure what will happen to Nicki until she can be admitted, but Lynn says they will manage.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content