Set upon the shores of a picturesque Scottish seaside town, in the icy depths of winter. The Winter Guest is a moving, funny and tender story about life, love and the need to feel wanted.

Frances (Emma Thompson) is trying to overcome the loss of her husband; while Elspeth (Phyllida Law), her mother, is attempting to rekindle the relationship between herself and her daughter.

As their lives intertwine with those of two young boys playing truant, a teenage couple on the brink of sexual awakening, and two elderly ladies who spend their time choosing which funeral to attend, their affections for each other begin to thaw, while all around them is cold, frost and snow covered.