France, on the eve of the French Revolution. Henriette and Louise have been raised together as sisters. When the plague that takes their parents’ lives causes Louise’s blindness, they decide to travel to Paris in search of a cure, but they separate when a lustful aristocrat crosses their path.

The wedding of their youngest sister, Janet, brings Gwen and Kay home to St. John’s, Newfoundland. While Janet struggles to hide her family’s dysfunction, Kay can’t help but create chaos wherever she goes and Gwen finds herself paralyzed by a past secret. The complicated web of relationships between the sisters, their Aunt Maureen, their absent mother, and Kay’s young daughter Billie, is only illuminated by the wedding. Gwen’s attempts to get Kay to take responsibility for her daughter highlights her own abandonment of her ex, Tom, leading them all to a not-so-perfect storm of a reception.

The star of Ken Loach’s MY NAME IS JOE, Mullan proves that his talent isn’t relegated to acting. As a writer/director, he has crafted a supremely entertaining motion picture. ORPHANS tells the grittily realistic, hysterical, and deeply moving tale of a group of siblings who reunite in Glasgow on the eve of their mother’s funeral. The four children mourn their mother’s passing in a variety of ways, some of which are heartfelt and some of which are bizarre. As a potential thunderstorm threatens to damage the city, the situation compounds itself even further.

During a winter storm, Ursus offers shelter to two orphans, Gwynplaine and Déa; some years later, they are still living together. Gwynplaine has become a famous star, but his success threatens his relationships with Déa and Ursus.