Sherry Swanson, a young woman who has recently been released from prison and is recovering from a heroin addiction, is trying to rebuild her life on the outside.

In between trips to visit her daughter and her job at a youth center, Sherry attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in an effort to beat back her addiction to heroin.

The site's consensus is that "Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers [a] riveting performance as a recovering drug addict in a depressing and not entirely believable movie.

[3] Entertainment Weekly praised the film as "emotionally arresting" and "authentic and moving", and describes Gyllenhaal as "such a miracle of an actress that she makes you respond to the innocence of Sherry's desperate, selfish destruction.

"[4] The Christian Science Monitor also gave a positive review of the film, complimenting Collyer's "vivid eye for detail and the small, telling human moments that make a movie resonate with audiences".