Before You Go 2002

Three sisters, Teresa, Mary and Catherine grew up on the Isle of Man, where their mother Violet has died. Teresa and her husband Frank live there and run a local vitamin and supplements business, with Frank as her second husband who often echoes their father’s quiet reserve. Teresa makes sure her sisters know that she and Frank have long supported their mother, sometimes without any help from the others.

Mary, a doctor, has been carrying on a long affair with fellow physician Mike, who is married with children. Catherine, meanwhile, hasn’t fared much better, currently dating a Spaniard named Javier. Mary has been given a bedroom in their late mother’s house, a space she uses as a kind of shrine, and she often experiences vivid visions and flashbacks of Violet while the family packs for the funeral. Mary is also searching for a box in the house that contains some of her belongings, but Teresa insists she hasn’t seen it.

Catherine is portrayed as flighty and unreliable in the eyes of her sisters. She lives beyond her means, constantly relying on credit, and she never seems to settle on a single partner, sometimes faking illness or other ploys to grab attention. The sisters are perpetually jumpy whenever the phone rings, and the moment Frank and Mike arrive, the atmosphere shifts from tidying up to tense undercurrents.

Mary’s private life becomes a centerpiece of the gathering when Mike is recognized for a regular presence on BBC medical programs. The next morning, Mary and Mike share a private moment in the woods, and she half-jopes about being pregnant—only to discover that he had a vasectomy years ago. They return to a house where Teresa and Catherine have been drinking from liquor found among their mother’s clothes, dancing in her fancy dresses as if to honor Violet in their own way.

Frank eventually arrives, and after meeting Mike, he heads down to the pub with Teresa. The conversation reveals tension about fidelity and honesty in their relationship: Frank seems eager to move away from selling supplements toward running a pub, which frustrates Teresa and makes her question his upfront honesty.

Back in town, Catherine is dumped by Javier by phone, and she bursts into tears, confessing how lonely she feels and that she has been taken advantage of, having slept with many partners. Frank’s attempt to rest is interrupted when Catherine seeks his sympathy and makes a pass at him.

The two couples head into town for a night out, where Teresa noisily undermines their evening with a blunt, embarrassing honesty. On the way back, Teresa reveals Mary’s teenage pregnancy to the group—something none of them had known. Mary and Mike talk again, and she reveals that the container she’s looking for holds the birth certificate for her child, Patrick. She hopes to keep a line of contact open with her now-adult son, but Mike makes it clear he does not want more children.

In the stillness of night, Violet seemingly guides Mary toward the garage tin; Teresa intercepts her, insisting that the contents should be saved for the funeral the next day. The lid is opened, and it becomes clear that Patrick died at 13 after falling from a cliff. Mary’s memories of her mother have long been shadowed by a moment of brutality—Violet’s slap when Mary became pregnant at 14—yet the scene is complicated by the way memory can distort the past. Only after finding a clipping does Mary realize that her mother’s earlier anger was followed by support she had long forgotten, a revelation that begins to reshape how she remembers Violet and the life they shared. The truth emerges slowly, reframing years of resentment into a more nuanced picture of care, discipline, and the complex bonds of family.