Once Upon a Time in Dollywood

Playwright Eve Ambroise attends a therapy session with her fiancé, Leo Coletti, following her third miscarriage. Feeling overwhelmed by discussions of her grief, Eve experiences a panic attack and abruptly leaves the session. She escapes to Prospect Park and, after a conversation with her best friend, Maya Baudin, decides to get away from her life by going to her late grandmother Hazel Beasley’s cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for a writing retreat. That evening, during a tense dinner at her parents’ home, Eve breaks up with a shocked Leo and departs for Tennessee the next morning.

Meanwhile, single father Jamie Gallagher is in a custody hearing for his eight-year-old son, Jack. The judge awards Jamie physical custody, granting Jack’s mother, Lucy Ewen, weekend visitation. During the proceedings, Jamie learns that Lucy is now engaged to her new partner, Tyler. Despite the court’s ruling, Jamie agrees to let Lucy have Jack for the week. To cope with the stress of the custody battle and his breakup, Jamie decides to spend his new free time at his cabin in Gatlinburg.

Eve arrives at her grandmother’s rustic cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains. While exploring the isolated property, she meets her neighbor, Jamie, who is maintaining the grounds and initially mistakes her for a trespasser. After she explains who she is, Jamie reveals that he was friends with her grandmother and calls her “Evie,” a nickname Hazel used, which surprises Eve.

A few days later, Jamie brings Eve groceries as a welcoming gesture and tells her to watch for the synchronous fireflies that appear in the area. They meet again at a local diner, Crockett’s Breakfast Camp, but Eve is distant. After she leaves, Jamie finds her debit card and follows her to the parking lot, where he discovers her having a severe panic attack. He uses grounding exercises to calm her down and offers to drive her home. During the ride, he mentions his son, Jack, which causes Eve to physically recoil and shut down the conversation. She declines his invitation for dinner but later changes her mind and goes to his cabin.

During their first dinner, Eve is impressed by Jamie’s cabin and the furniture he built himself. She opens up about her play, Gamba Adisa, which is about Sandra Bland, and he shares that his ex-girlfriend of ten years, Lucy, cheated on him. After drinking too much whiskey, Eve passes out on his couch. Jamie carries her to his bed and leaves a note explaining he has to go to Nashville to see Jack for the weekend.

Over the summer, Eve and Jamie begin a “situationship,” spending weekends together. One evening, they watch the synchronous fireflies from her balcony and share their first kiss. Eve later initiates sex, but they stop when they realize they do not have a condom, and she performs oral sex on him instead; she remains guarded about further sexual intimacy. Meanwhile, pressure from her agent, Stella Fischer-Fox, to write her next play mounts, and during a Zoom call, Eve has an emotional breakdown. Her breakdown culminates in a painful phone call where she finally confronts her parents about forcing her to give up her baby for adoption when she was seventeen. She also has a heated argument with her ex-fiancé, Leo, over her sudden departure. Amid the turmoil, Stella emails Eve with the news that The Public Theater in New York wants to produce Gamba Adisa.

Weeks into their relationship, after they have sex for the first time, Jamie learns his father, Sam, has had an accident. He spontaneously invites Eve to join him on a trip to Memphis to see him, but she panics at the thought of meeting his family and refuses. The interaction creates distance between them. While Jamie is in Memphis, where he discovers his estranged mother, Diane, has reconciled with his father, Eve sends him a text message saying they need to “put a pause on it all” so she can focus on her play. After several weeks of silence, Jamie shows up at her cabin. They reconcile when she admits she is scared of her growing feelings for him.

As their relationship grows more serious, Jamie invites Eve to Nashville for Thanksgiving to meet Jack. Eve panics again and refuses, telling him to “keep your kid out of it.” Hurt by her rejection of his son, Jamie asks her to sleep at her own cabin. The next morning, they argue again, and he leaves for Nashville, creating another rupture in their relationship.

Jamie hosts Thanksgiving in Nashville, where Lucy announces she is pregnant. Shaken by the news, Jamie feels more alone than ever. Late that night, Eve unexpectedly arrives at his apartment with a bouquet of roses to reconcile. The next day, she meets Jack, and their interaction is sweet and natural, easing her anxieties. Eve then opens up to Jamie for the first time about her past miscarriages with Leo.

Eve begins spending more time in Nashville, meeting Jamie’s family. For Christmas, the couple takes Jack and his friend to Dollywood, which is a magical experience for Eve. During the trip, Jamie reveals that, inspired by her, he has applied to both Vanderbilt and NYU. Afterward, they confess their love for each other.

Eve travels to New York for Christmas. A disastrous dinner with her parents and a painful confrontation with Leo, who reveals his mother died in August, convince her that she needs to stay and sort out her life. She had planned to meet Jamie and Jack in Paris for New Year’s, but during a Christmas FaceTime call, she tells Jamie she must cancel the trip to finish her play. Feeling that she is running from their relationship again and wanting to protect Jack from more uncertainty, Jamie ends things between them.

After a week of pleading texts from Eve are met with a final, cold reply from Jamie, she has a breakdown in her agent’s office. She finally tells Stella the full story of her teenage pregnancy and the adoption. This becomes a turning point, and Eve begins therapy. She processes her trauma, has a second, successful confrontation with her mother, who finally apologizes, and decides to postpone her second play to focus on her mental health and the Gamba Adisa opening. Meanwhile, Jamie reconciles with his mother, Diane, sets firm boundaries with Lucy, and learns he has been accepted into NYU.

On the opening night of Gamba Adisa at The Public Theater, Eve feels centered and proud. At the afterparty, Jamie appears, having flown to New York to see the play. They dance, and he quotes Audre Lorde, telling her he wants more than what they had. He reveals he was accepted to NYU and is moving to New York with Jack. He asks her, “If you’ll have us.” Crying with joy, Eve accepts, and they kiss, ready to start their new life together.