The father and daughter, David and Rachel, are struggling to come to terms with the tragic death of wife and mother, Gillian when they invite her sister and her husband to commiserate the second anniversary of the dark day.

Distraught, Gillian's husband David Lewis turns their summer cottage in Nantucket, Massachusetts into a permanent home.

Once she has disappeared again, David comes face-to-face with Rachel and admits both that he talks to Gillian's imagined ghost and that he is not really writing a book.

That night, sensing her sleeplessness, Paul discovers that Esther has a court appointment on Monday to petition that David lose custody for neglect, as Rachel is increasingly withdrawn and her grades have been slipping.

The next day, David throws himself into the sand sculpture contest he has been preparing for weeks, determined to beat the child who won the previous year.

Paul lets David know about Esther's court date on Monday to try to convince him to better hide his unusual behavior, so he races back to confront her.

David says that he will stay one more day to board up the house and leave too, coming to realize that he can be an attentive father to Rachel without betraying Gillian's memory.

[5] Emanuel Levy in Variety described the film as "a bargain-basement Ghost, a hybrid of an earnest, inspirational play and a sleek, calculated Lifetime telepic.

"[6] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote: "It's not easy for the story's tear-jerking potential to be realized when its characters express their pain as if they were writing greeting cards.

"[7] Many critics found it difficult to accept the basic premise, that the main character's continued mourning of his deceased wife is so detrimental to those around him.

"[8] Jack Matthews of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Despite its apparent parallels to Ghost, Gillian takes an entirely opposite path.

"[9] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle thought the film lacked dramatic impetus: "the grieving husband never quite seems crazy enough - and the sister is never angry enough...drama is avoided.

"[4] Matthews wrote, "Danes is terrific playing an awkward teenager trying to understand her father's problems while feeling the first stirrings of passion in herself.