Ninette Pearse, a 1950s housewife in Vancouver, has suicidal thoughts after experiencing multiple pregnancy losses. Desperate to shake her out of her funk but feeling helpless, her husband, Theo, brings her to a mental institute, hoping they'll be able to cure her. Ninette must learn to survive in a world where she is deemed less-than-human and gravely mistreated. She struggles daily, battling the demons in her mind, longing to be understood while fearing when—or what—her next treatment will be. But nothing can prepare her or Theo for what happens behind closed doors.