Plot
Twelve-year-old Mully lives with his indebted father, James, in County Kerry, Ireland, after Mully’s mother Rita dies of cancer. At a charity event held in Rita’s honour, Mully realises James has stolen the donated hospice money to pay off debts. Mully grabs the cash and flees in an unattended taxi.
He is startled to find two passengers in the back: Joy, a middle-aged woman who is drunk and distressed, and her newborn baby. When the baby cries, Joy panics, but Mully manages to calm the child. To avoid attention, Mully abandons the taxi and takes another car from a used-car lot, insisting on driving despite being underage and unlicensed. They stick to back roads to reduce the risk of being stopped, quarrelling at first but gradually bonding.
After the car runs out of fuel, they walk to a petrol station and pass the time by taking turns asking questions. Mully admits he has the hospice money; Joy reveals she plans to leave the baby with her childhood friend Mags and fly to Lanzarote, saying she feels detached from the child and does not know who the father is. James contacts Mully and urges him to head for a ferry. Joy initially refuses, but after a tense encounter at a police checkpoint she agrees, and they switch vehicles again to stay ahead of the search.
While waiting for the ferry, Mully helps Joy figure out breastfeeding, drawing on what he remembers from caring for a younger sibling. Joy names the baby Robin after seeing a robin nearby, and tells Mully she went to school with Rita, describing Rita as admired and popular. James catches up with them, and Mully persuades him to let Joy and Robin travel with them. When Joy suffers a haemorrhage, they stop at a bed-and-breakfast so she can recover. James schemes to protect himself, pressuring Mully to tell locals that he stole the money but was later robbed.
Joy calls Mags, saying the baby arrived a week early, that she has named her Robin, and that she has breastfed her. She also confides a troubling childhood memory: after she and her mother saw her father cheating, Joy went into the sea and was caught in an undertow, and she remembers her mother hesitating before helping her.
The next morning Joy returns the hospice money to Mully so he can repay it. Hurt that Joy still intends to give up Robin, Mully lashes out at her. In a state of emotional turmoil, Joy leaves Robin at Mags’s house and drives to Kerry airport to go through with her plan. On the plane to Spain, Joy panics and insists on being let off, then races back to find Mully.
James confronts them and demands the money. Joy tries to protect Mully, but Mully runs into the sea and throws the cash behind him. James retrieves it while Joy pulls Mully back to safety. In the aftermath, Mags calls Joy to say Robin is distraught. Joy drives with Mully to return the stolen hospice money, and they go to collect Robin.
