After Sarah Polley's mother died, she discovered her dad wasn't her birth father. With her mother gone and unable to answer questions about the past, she interviews both fathers, family members, and old friends to understand her own history. We quickly come to realize, however, that this story is not only Polley's. It also belongs to all those close to her - her dad, mom, sisters, brothers, friends, and biological father. Each person possesses their own version of this story, their own memories of what happened.

The audience is welcomed into an intriguing family dynamic and eventually entrusted with the secret of her mother's affair. The main storyline is thus approached from several different angles: all those directly or tangentially involved. Each version of the story is given near equal weight throughout the film. It is clear that various versions of the past exist in the minds of those who lived it.

This story could have been told very differently; it could have been a linear single-perspective story recounting a life changed by a secret. What Polley chose to do instead was to lean into the multitudes and messiness of this story, which gives this film immense depth and meaning. Polley asks tough questions, ones without simple answers, such as who does a story "belong" to, how do our memories interact with memories of others, are memories true, whose truth is the "truest?"

As we watch Polley dive headfirst into these questions, she invites us into the wonderfully messy complexities of our memories.

In her own words: "To a certain degree, all of us can't help being somewhat possessive of a certain version of history. It's just a matter of how much we're certain that we're right. If making this film has taught me anything, it's that we can't all be right and we can't all be wrong. Something's got to give in terms of how certain we are of ourselves... we become so defensive about our version of the past. It's so intertwined with our sense of who we are now, and why, if that becomes challenged or undermined in any way, there's a sense that who we are, and the reasons why we've become that way, are being threatened."