Matthew (Matthew Riley) has sad memories of his late childhood in Guyana, when his mother rejected him in a terrifically painful way. He has been living in Canada for quite some time, but now wants to revisit his birthplace. There, he meets a group of local people who help him discover what has really drawn him here. One of them is a talkative exiled Hungarian woman, whose story of a messy abortion gave rise to the film's title. Another is an attractive local teacher with whom he has an unhappy affair. It is unhappy, because he is holding himself back, and seemingly everyone knows he is walled up inside. He does experience some amusement in watching the antics a young orphan boy who reminds him of himself.