Lucy, now 17, has spent the past few years severely separated from her friends, refusing to let anybody near her house in order to hide the family secret: the overwhelming mountain of stuff filled in every gap of space. She quietly plans her escape to college while dealing with her mother Joanna's hoarding disorder. Joanna, an outwardly successful nurse, keeps the family's dysfunction going with an obsessive grip, but after a catastrophe, Lucy must decide whether to keep her mother's secret hidden or to share it with the world.