The Family Stone

The Stone family unites in common cause when their favorite son brings his uptight girlfriend home for the Christmas holiday, with plans of proposing. Overwhelmed by the hostile reception, she begs her sister to join her for emotional support, triggering further complications.

The Stones gather for Christmas. Dad's a professor in a Connecticut town; mom has a secret; there's a gay, deaf son and his lover; a pregnant daughter and her child; a daughter who's judgmental and acerbic, like her mother; and a laid-back observant brother. Everett is the eldest, bringing his fianc?e Meredith to meet the family and, probably, to ask for grandma's ring to give her. She's self centered, uptight, and talks too much. Instantly, almost all give her a hard time. She calls her sister to come and help. Meredith, her sister, the Stones, and the family stone conflate. What does Everett see in Meredith, and doesn't she deserve someone to love her for who she is?

The prodigal son Everett Stone brings his conservative and bigot fianc?e Meredith Morton to spend Christmas holidays with his very closed family. Meredith is coldly and hostilely welcomed by the family Stone, and feeling completely uncomfortable, she decides to call her sister Julie to stay with her. Along Christmas, revelations and new feelings are disclosed.

In the lead up to Christmas, the extended Stone family - headed by parents Sybil and Kelly Stone - are planning on descending on the family home for the holidays. The Stones are loving, tight-knit, outspoken and liberal minded. Among those attending the festivities are their five children, "perfect" son Everett, unmarried son Ben, deaf gay son Thad (with his African American partner, Patrick), pregnant daughter Susannah (with her first child, adolescent Elizabeth), and outspoken daughter Amy. New to the mix this year is Everett's guest, Meredith Morton, who Everett intends on marrying. Meredith is outwardly put-together, but is uptight, self-conscious and lacks self-esteem. Also outwardly, Meredith is not a typical addition to the Stone family, an issue not lost on either Meredith herself or any of the Stones. There is an open air of tension in the household because of the presence of Meredith, who calls upon her sister, Julie, to come to the Stone Christmas if only for moral support. Julie, on the other hand, is loved by all the Stones. Meredith storms off on Christmas Eve the result of a major argument with the Stones. But as Everett, Julie and Ben go after Meredith, all have a chance to reflect on their feelings and actions. In the light of Christmas day, life at the Stone's seems clearer if not slightly poignant as one by one individuals in the family learn of a secret kept by Sybil.