Angela Quinn is a mother of three trapped in a stale marriage to the dull Arthur. To add a bit of spice to her dreary life, she has a fling with a neighbour based on a shared love of sex and Mars bars. But, in a dramatic shift in tone, a tragedy forces everyone to look closely at their lives and to come to terms with guilt and remorse.

Stanley McDermott, a man you could set your clock by, finds himself locked out of his work three weeks short of his 65th birthday. To the despair of his wife Brenda, he starts to contemplate the meaning of life until a bittersweet twist of tragedy next door offers him a glimmer of hope.