Mike Leigh returns to gritty drama after his last big-screen outing with 'Topsy Turvy' in 1999. Penny (Lesley Manville) lives with her long-term partner, taxi-driver Phil (Timothy Spall), and works on the checkout at a supermarket. Their daughter Rachel (Alison Garland) cleans in a home for elderly people, and their son Rory (James Corden) is unemployed and aggressive. The joy has gone out of Phil and Penny's life, but when Rory becomes ill and has to be rushed to hospital, they begin to rediscover their love.