Starring Peter Mullan as the titular character, it follows the annual Christmas journey of a homeless man from Scotland to London.

In the present day, Hector and homeless friends, Dougie and Hazel, are given jackets by a stranger.

After being given an appointment in a few weeks for a non-urgent operation, returning from the direction of the oncology department, he is recognised by an acquaintance, who hasn't seen him in years.

[2] Looking for his sister Lizzie in Newcastle, he eventually finds her husband, Derek, who berates him for visiting after so many years without communication.

Hector arrives at a service station and encounters Hazel and Dougie, who tells him to sleep in the disabled toilet, as it was a cold night and he looked unwell.

He receives a free breakfast but, when he spills his tea and looks for a towel to mop it up, the waitress accuses him of attempted theft.

He tells Sara that his wife and daughter were killed on this day, Christmas Eve, by a drunk driver.

Hector tells Lizzie, who had rebuked him for his lack of contact, he blamed himself for his family's deaths as they had left after a row.

[4] In The Observer, Mark Kermode praised the film as a "surprisingly warm and rewardingly aware tale of homelessness at Christmas" and rated it four out of five stars.