Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands) is a wife and mother teetering on the brink of insanity. She has no interests in life other than her husband, Nick (Peter Falk), a construction worker, and her children. Mabel craves emotional closeness, but Nick is quiet and undemonstrative and her children are uncomfortable with her constant attentions. Although Nick is aware of Mabel’s unhappiness, he is impatient with her neediness and her actions bring out a harshness in him that begins to topple Mabel’s life. As Mabel’s frustration and loneliness grow, she exhibits inappropriate behavior to the point where Nick fears a nervous breakdown and has her committed. She returns after six months to face a homecoming party, the outcome of which will either help her turn a corner in her life or push her over the brink into total madness.