Swiv is a nine-year-old girl living in Toronto who assumes heavy domestic responsibilities following her expulsion from school for fighting. She acts as a physical caretaker for her pregnant mother and aging grandmother, administering medications and picking up dropped objects around the house. She is frequently mistaken for a boy and expresses discomfort with adult discussions of sexuality. She processes her daily life by writing an ongoing, unsent letter to her absent father.

Elvira, known primarily as Grandma, is an elderly survivor of both Cold War Europe and an oppressive Canadian religious community. Despite losing her husband and daughter, she actively chooses to resist despair. She speaks a secret dialect with her dwindling group of friends and requires constant physical assistance from Swiv. She insists on maintaining a fighting spirit and frequently ignores medical advice.

Mom is a stage actor experiencing a difficult third-trimester pregnancy and severe emotional instability. She carries trauma from an exploitative film shoot in Albania and the deaths of her father and sister. Prone to intense outbursts, she relies heavily on nine-year-old Swiv to manage the household and assist with homeopathic remedies like oregano oil. Despite her erratic behavior, she maintains a protective love for her family.

Dad is Swiv's absent father who left the family home when Mom became pregnant with Gord. He struggled with heavy alcohol use before his departure, turning physically yellow from his drinking. His absence creates a massive void in the household that Swiv attempts to fill.

Gord is the joke name given to Mom's unborn baby. As a constant presence in the household's mind, the developing baby represents both a source of anxiety for the struggling family and a reason to keep fighting for the future.

Willit Braun is the authoritarian religious leader of the restrictive community where Grandma lived for decades. He functions as a petty tyrant who enforced strict, misogynistic rules that crushed natural joy and individual expression. He continues to attempt contact with former community members to bring them back into his fold.

"Jay Gatsby" is the family's mocking nickname for a persistent real estate prospector. He repeatedly attempts to buy the women's house to gentrify the neighborhood, ignoring their firm and angry refusals to sell.

Grandpa is Grandma's deceased husband and Mom's father. He struggled under the oppressive weight of their religious community and ultimately died by suicide, leaving a legacy of grief that deeply affects the surviving women.

Momo is Mom's deceased sister and Grandma's daughter who died by suicide. Her tragedy serves as a constant, heavy presence in the daily lives of the family.

Lou is Grandma's nephew living in Fresno, California. He is an older, retired technology worker recovering from a heart attack, surprising Swiv, who expected him to be a child based on Grandma's stories.

Ken is Grandma's nephew in Fresno who lives with his girlfriend Jude. He maintains ties to his past through his motorcycle gang friends and takes the visiting family out on his sailboat.

Jude is Ken's girlfriend in Fresno. She spends time with the family during their visit, occasionally making the socially conservative Swiv uncomfortable through her casual habits.

T is a helpful teenage boy in Fresno who steps in when Swiv realizes she cannot drive Grandma's rental car. He assists the stranded pair and drives them safely back to Ken's house.