Plot: It's early spring. Native Brit Alex Hughes, a general loner, is an ex-con. He has just landed at Timmins Airport in Northern Ontario - where there is still snow on the ground - from where he will drive to Winnipeg to meet with a friend. Along the way, he makes an unexpected several day stop in Wawa on the northern shore of Lake Superior out of necessity. Part of his stay in Wawa is to meet with Linda Freeman, the mother of Vivienne Freeman, an extroverted young woman he met on the road. Alex is unaware before he meets Linda that she is a functioning autistic, who has a predilection for cleanliness - most specifically in her kitchen where she allows no one and which requires someone to take out her garbage which she doesn't like to touch - and eating snow, the way it melts in her mouth what she enjoys about it. During his necessary stay in Wawa, Alex assumes some of Vivienne's responsibilities in Linda's life. He also begins a "friendship" with Linda's attractive next door neighbor, Maggie, a non-native Wawaian who Linda does not much like. Alex and Maggie's friendship doesn't sit well with Clyde, the local police officer who knows of Alex's criminal past and who has his own eye on Maggie. Alex, Linda and Maggie's encounters with each other and the primary reason for Alex's stay in the town will all have a profound effect on their lives by the time Alex takes his leave.
Alternative Plot: Traveling through Canada, ex-con Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman) picks up a vivacious young hitchhiker, Vivienne (Emily Hampshire), who needs a ride to her hometown. Soon afterward, the pair are involved in a horrible car accident that kills Vivienne. Alex continues on to her home to tell Vivienne's mother (Sigourney Weaver) about her fate. Later he begins an affair with a neighbor (Carrie-Anne Moss) who paves the way for his healing.
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