Joseph (Peter Mullan) is an unemployed widower, drinker, & a man crippled by his own volatile temperament & furious anger. Hannah (Olivia Colman) is a Christian worker at a charity shop, a respectable woman who appears wholesome & happy. When the pair are brought together, Hannah appears as Joseph's potential saviour, someone who can temper his fury & offer him warmth, kindness & acceptance. As their story develops Hannah's own secrets are revealed
- her relationship with husband James (Eddie Marsan) is violent & abusive
- & as events spiral out of control, Joseph becomes her source of succour & comfort.