She's capable of unleashing torrents of anger at their father while serving as her younger brother's protector and confidante. Now slender and attractive, he returns home after a 10-year absence for Rosemary's wedding. It seems her mental state also may have been sparked by an incident that marked Sweet William's exit from his home and the opening chapters of his dismal life. He hung himself in a tree outside Grace's bedroom window. And when Willy returns, he is stupefied to find he can see his boyhood self hanging in the garden.
Flashbacks fill in the gaps in the complex and disturbing story.
The bloom has been off everyone's innocence from the beginning. In a sense, Willy killed off his Sweet William self in order to leave and start a new life. Yet he never could break free of all the pain and guilt of his early years. No one else here ever even tries, which sometimes makes for a mightily depressing film. But the story sounds an optimistic note that indicates there is escape possible - and even a happy ending, of sorts.