Teenager Shelley, her younger sister Dee and their mother Mo go on their annual holiday to their beach chalet. Tensions are high, as Shelley resents Mo for not inviting Tom, their estranged father; while Mo has just quit her job, sick of being patronised and passed over for promotion because of her separated status.
Arriving at the seaside, they discover that their usual chalet has been taken by someone else - an eccentrically dressed old lady, Abbie McGee - and they have to stay in a rundown holiday home. That evening in the pub, Mo meets Pat, a builder; meanwhile Shelley is being watched by a young lounge-boy, Danny.