Who is the husband of the person who had an abortion years ago?
Marion Post is a New York philosophy professor past the age of 50 on a leave of absence to write a new book.  Due to construction work in their building, she sublets a furnished flat downtown to have peace and quiet.
Her work there is interrupted by voices from a neighboring office in the building where a therapist conducts his analysis.  She quickly realizes that she is privy to the despairing sessions of another woman, Hope, who is disturbed by a growing feeling that her life is false and empty.  Her words strike a chord in Marion, who begins to question herself in the same way.
She comes to realize that, like her father, she has been unfair, unkind and judgmental to the people closest to her: her unsuccessful brother Paul and his wife Lynn, who feel they embarrass her; her best friend from high school Claire, who feels eclipsed by her; her first husband Sam, who eventually committed suicide; and her stepdaughter Laura, who admires her but resents her high-handedness.
She also realizes that her marriage to her second husband, Ken, is unfulfilling and that she missed her one chance at love with his best friend Larry.  She finally manages to meet the woman in therapy as she contemplates a Klimt painting called "Hope".  Although she wants to know more about the woman, she ends up talking more about herself, realizing that she made a mistake by having an abortion years ago and that at her age there are many things in life she will not have anymore.
She leaves Ken after catching him having an affair. She resolves to change her life for the better, and takes steps to repair her relationship with Paul and Laura.  By the end of the film, she reflects that, for the first time in years, she feels hopeful.
Ken