Lee Chandler is a brooding irritable loner who works as a handyman for a Boston apartment block. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown north of the city. His brother's heart has given out suddenly and he's been named guardian to his 16-year-old nephew. As if losing his only sibling and doubts about raising a teenager weren't enough his return to the past re-opens an unspeakable tragedy.