A woman's life falls apart after she's blamed for an accident on her property.

School nurse Alice Goodwin (Sigourney Weaver) lives with her husband (David Strathairn) and two daughters (Dara Perlmutter and Kayla Perlmutter) on a dairy farm in a small Wisconsin community. After an accident on her property involving a friend's child, the town turns against her and Alice finds herself fighting charges of child abuse.—ccampbell

Alice and Howard Goodwin (Sigourney Weaver, David Strathairn) have recently moved to rural Wisconsin and are regarded with suspicion by most of their neighbors. The couple does form a friendship, however, with Theresa and Dan Collins (Julianne Moore, Ron Lea). Both couples often take turns babysitting for one another. Tragedy occurs one day when Alice, momentarily distracted, discovers that Theresa's daughter (Victoria Rudiak) has drowned in a pond near her house. Alice is grief stricken and then further horrified when a neighborhood boy accuses her of sexual abuse. Imprisoned, her husband unable to make bail, Alice is left to face up to all of her grief and a court trial, while her husband and Theresa must find their own peace.