Kathy Nicole (Connelly) is a recovering alcoholic who has been living alone since her husband walked out on her eight months earlier. She has fallen behind in paying the taxes on her home and neglects to read the warnings from the county. The authorities subsequently seize her home, she is evicted and the house is put up for auction. A retired Iranian colonel, Massoud Amir Behrani (Kingsley), sees the investment potential of the home and purchases the house at the undervalued market price offered by the county. Behrani, who works two jobs, sees the home as a way of building a better life for his family after losing everything he had in Iran. Kathy tries to buy the house back from him, but he insists on the new market value, which is several times higher than what he had paid and is beyond her capacity to pay. Both have a legitimate moral claim to the home and the tension between them escalates towards a tragic outcome. The film was based on a novel by Andre Dubus and the performances from Kingsley, Connelly and Aghdashloo (who received an Oscar nomination) are superb.