Morgan Mercer welcomes her injured country father Arthur to the city for urgent orthopedic medical care, hoping to combine his visit with a peaceful joint celebration for the elders' milestone birthdays. Her optimism crumbles under the spiteful tyranny of her mother-in-law Beatrice, who treats Arthur like an unsanitary peasant while showering lavish favor on her own conceited relatives.
When Morgan's passive spouse Oliver Gallagher defends his mother's cruelty and demands that Arthur dine in isolation from the guests, Morgan reaches her absolute breaking point. Refusing to tolerate another moment of filial disrespect and emotional degradation, Morgan violently overturns the birthday feast before stunned onlookers, demanding an immediate divorce and severing ties with the arrogant household.
