The film is based on the 1997 short story "Of Memory and Desire" by Peter Wells.

[2][3] Sayo and Keiji are a Japanese couple who elope to New Zealand to get married.

On their honeymoon, frustrated by being unable to consummate their marriage, Keiji fatally drowns in a swimming accident.

Heartbroken after losing her husband, Sayo contemplates traveling back to Japan to once again live with her domineering mother, per Japanese tradition.

Instead, she stays in New Zealand on the beach where Keiji drowned to find peace.