The Mothers

Several years pass while Nadia is away at college in Ann Arbor. During Nadia’s senior year, she receives a call from Aubrey, who announces her engagement to Luke. Nadia confides her discomfort about the news to her boyfriend, Shadi. A flashback shows a prior visit from Aubrey to Nadia’s dorm, during which Aubrey admitted she had begun seeing Luke.

In Oceanside, an insomniac Aubrey prepares for her wedding. Against her older sister’s advice, Aubrey sends an invitation to her estranged mother. Nadia returns to California for the wedding and is unsettled to find that her father, Robert, has taken down all photographs of her deceased mother from their home. At Aubrey’s bridal shower, Luke gives Nadia a prayer book that belonged to her mother, which he stole years before. The weekend before the wedding, a note arrives from Aubrey’s mother, declining the invitation.

Later, at the beach, Nadia and Aubrey meet two Marines, JT and Russell Miller, and spend the evening with them. In an impulsive moment, Aubrey kisses Russell but quickly pulls away. After they part from the men and leave the beach, Aubrey and Nadia sit together in a car and watch the sunrise. Aubrey confronts Nadia for concealing the truth about her relationship with Luke for so long.