Winter Garden

Now 40, Meredith goes on a run with her two huskies. She runs through the orchard and sees her childhood home, where her parents live. She returns home, where she and her husband, Jeff, don’t say much to each other as they prepare for the day. Meredith calls her youngest daughter, Maddy, and then takes a call from her dad, agreeing to have lunch with him and Anya at Belye Nochi.

Meredith arrives at the house and finds her 85-year-old father, Evan Whitson, reading by the Christmas tree. Her mother is sitting in the winter garden alone, as she often does. As they eat lunch together, Evan says he’d like to change one apple field to grapes to tap into the growing wine market. Meredith disagrees and, after a brief argument, returns to work.

Meredith arrives home later than planned that evening. She and Jeff have a stilted conversation, and Meredith notices the distance between her and her husband. Jeff then says he’s returning to his office, and Meredith can’t think of a reason to make him stay.

Nina Whitson hikes through the Rwandan jungle and discovers a poached mountain gorilla. She photographs the scene for an hour and then returns to a small town with her team. Nina calls her editor, Sylvie, and promises to have the pictures to her in six days.

A few days later, Nina flies to Namibia to meet her boyfriend, Danny Flynn. She and Danny take a rented Land Rover deep into the wilderness. Eventually, the couple finds the isolated Himba group. Nina speaks Swahili to the chief, asking permission to photograph the tribe, and Danny presents the curious onlookers with jugs of fresh water. The community accepts them and feeds them a traditional meal to welcome them.

The next day, Nina photographs a young mother carrying her baby and searching for water. She also takes hundreds of other photos but knows her best work is with the mother and baby. When she finishes her work, Nina and Danny leave the village and go to a resort to relax. As Nina lounges on their private deck, Danny arrives and gives her a telegram from Sylvie. Nina reads the telegram and learns that her father has had a heart attack.

Meredith tries to stay busy to distract herself from Evan’s dire situation, but her grief is too strong. She’s in the hospital waiting room when Jeff comes up behind her. She refuses to let him hold or comfort her. A doctor arrives and explains that the damage to Evan’s heart is too extensive and that they can do nothing for him.

Nina arrives at the hospital 34 hours after leaving Africa, and Meredith catches her up on their father’s condition and prognosis. Nina sees her mother sitting in the waiting room, noting her sense of control and poise. Nina goes to Anya, who says her father has been asking for her. Nina visits her father in his room. They talk, and Evan tells Nina that he wants to die at home; she agrees to make it happen.

Afterward, Nina leaves the hospital and drives to Belye Nochi. She enters the living room and hugs Meredith, who asks what their family will be like without their father. Nina tells Meredith to go home and says she’ll care for their mother. Nina finds Anya in the winter garden with snow falling around her. Nina tries to converse with her mother, but Anya tells her to stop.

Meredith returns to her house and sits on the front porch, thinking about how she’ll overcome the grief of losing her father. When Jeff comes to the porch, she goes inside, knowing her inability to talk to him hurts their marriage.

Evan returns to Belye Nochi, and his family settles him into his bed. Nina notices how thin and old he looks. Evan asks his daughters to take care of their mother before falling asleep. Nina tries to talk to Meredith about their situation, but Meredith refuses and leaves.

Meredith and Jeff meet their daughters, Jillian and Maddy, at the train station that night. Their ride to Belye Nochi is subdued and lacks the usual happiness and excitement. They arrive at the house and go straight to Evan’s room. Jillian and Maddy hug Anya and then turn to their grandfather, who greets them. He sits up and tells Anya it’s time, but she refuses. He reminds her that she promised, and tells the rest of the family that Anya will tell them a fairy tale like she used to. Since Evan commands it, Anya begins her story of the peasant girl and the prince.

In the story, a peasant girl named Vera lives in the Snow Kingdom, which an evil Black Knight is overtaking. The knight wants to destroy everything in the kingdom, and the villagers can do nothing to stop him. One night, Vera wakes and hears her parents arguing. Vera’s mother pleads with Vera’s father to do what the Black Knight demands, but he refuses. Vera takes her sister, Olga, to the park the next day. As Olga plays, Prince Aleksandr hands Vera two roses. The prince and Vera talk and arrange to meet on the Enchanted Bridge that night. The couple falls in love, gets married, and lives happily ever after.

Anya ends the fairy tale abruptly and leaves the room, refusing to continue despite Evan’s pleas. Meredith also goes to leave, and her father tells her to listen to her mother’s stories. Nina questions her father’s insistence on the fairy tale. Evan tells her he regrets letting Anya hide because she feels “broken.” He also makes Nina promise to get to know her mother after he’s gone and to listen to the entire fairy tale. Nina promises. She finds her mother in the kitchen and asks to hear the rest of the fairy tale, but Anya refuses. Nina knows that keeping her promise will be very difficult.

Meredith has breakfast with her family the next morning and then walks to her parents’ house. She hopes to listen to some of her father’s stories so she can pass them on. Meredith enters her parents’ bedroom and finds her mother cuddled against her father’s dead body. She calls 911. Meredith tries to talk to Anya, but she talks nonsensically about people dying in the cold and other indecipherable phrases.

Nina spends the morning taking photos in the frosted orchard. She walks to Meredith’s house, where Maddy welcomes her, and then returns to Belye Nochi. Meredith tells her their father is dead when she arrives, and the sisters hug. Nina goes upstairs and says goodbye to her father for the last time. From the window, Nina sees her mother outside, moving toward the greenhouse, so she follows Anya and finds her digging up potatoes. Nina snaps her mother out of her daze and tries to take her back inside. Anya refuses and sits in the winter garden instead. After a brief conversation in which Anya says she wants Evan cremated instead of buried, Nina returns to the house to help Meredith make phone calls.

Over 400 people attend Evan’s funeral, and dozens return to Belye Nochi with the family. Nina mingles and listens to everyone’s stories about her father while Meredith busies herself with the catering and housekeeping. When all the guests leave, Meredith regrets not allowing Jeff to comfort her and not being part of the group like Nina.

Over the next few days, Anya, Meredith, and Nina settle into their routines. Nina feels incompetent next to Meredith’s micromanaging, and her grief consumes her. Eventually, Nina calls her editor and says she must return to work. After the call, Nina tells Meredith she won’t stay much longer. Meredith accuses her of running away but doesn’t blame her; she’d run away if she could. Nina says she’ll return to scatter their father’s ashes on his birthday.

That night, Nina tells Anya she’s going to Sierra Leone to photograph the war, claiming her work exposes the tragedy to the world. Nina wishes her mother a happy Christmas and leaves Belye Nochi