The film premiered on February 9, 2009, at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival and was shown at the Sydney Film Festival and the Edinburgh Film Festival before opening in the United Kingdom on July 10. Following a showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, it was limited released in the United States on November 27, 2009.[2]

As a teenager nearly driven mad by her complacent pastor father Des and bipolar mother Suky, whose neurotic behavior is precipitated by an addiction to amphetamines, Pippa Sarkissian runs away from her rural home and seeks refuge with her father's sister Trish in New York City. She is startled to discover her aunt is a lesbian and living with Kat, a dominatrix who specializes in photographing sadomasochistic scenes. Falling under Kat's influence, Pippa rapidly descends into an underworld of illegal drugs and promiscuous sex. She is rescued from her decadent lifestyle by Herb Lee, a charismatic publisher 30 years her senior. They wed, have two children, and live a very comfortable life until Herb's multiple heart attacks force them to sell their Manhattan apartment and settle in a retirement community in suburban Connecticut, where Pippa develops a sleep disorder. By far the youngest of all the residents, she finds herself becoming bored and restless and beginning to unravel until she meets her neighbor's emotionally damaged son Chris, who becomes an unlikely confidante and unexpected lover. Pippa's unswerving devotion to her husband is tested when she discovers he is having a fling of his own with Sandra Dulles, an attractive woman — even younger than his trophy wife — who has a long list of neuroses of her own.