Plot

After finding out that the hippie lifestyle isn't as glamorous as the media makes it look, Dennie comes home to find disapproval and judgment at every turn, and her sister Susie wanting to follow in her footsteps.

Dennie has returned from a year among the hippies to her superficial, image-conscious suburban family. She must face their disapproval of her actions. They refuse to even try to understand. She must also deal with an ex-lover, and a beloved young sister who is following in her footsteps, wanting the idealistic hippie life but making some rash decisions in the process.—Molly Malloy

The year is 1970 and [twenty-ish] hippie Denise "Dennie" Miller is hitchhiking back home after living [a nomadic lifestyle among] hippies [across America] We hear a voice-over of Dennie's side of a phone conversation in which she tries to console her parents' worry with the promise of "Maybe I'll come home in the spring."

As dawn nears, she arrives at her pleasant middle class family home, soaks her grimy feet in the swimming pool, wanders the quiet house, and falls into her childhood bed in exhaustion.

[Alarm clock rings. ] Her stressed-out suburban parents wake to a typical busy day, clueless that their older daughter has returned. Their younger daughter, ornery teen Susie, gets ready for school. Susie soon finds Dennie asleep in her old room, and [alerts] her parents that prodigal daughter Dennie has returned.

The family is overjoyed. Dennie tearfully begs her parents' forgiveness for her temporary abandonment and [begs] to stay in the fold. [As they hug, Claire shoos Susie off to turn off the stove. Ed also urges her to go, in case of fire. Susie goes as Dennie comments on how tall Susie has gotten.]

[Dennie, Claire and Ed enter a smoke-filled kitchen to find Susie standing numbly beside a burning pan of bacon. Dennie looks at Susie who flicks away a tear.]

Dennie's parents are nervous and over solicitous around Dennie, while hyper-critical of Susie. We learn that during Dennie's absence, there has been friction between them and the increasingly disgruntled and rebellious Susie. They can't figure out what's gotten into Susie. There is a lot of shouting before they settle down to breakfast. Ed takes two phone calls. During the first, he begs off work, sharing that Denise has come home. But he asks the colleague to tell the boss Ed has car trouble. On the second call, Ed sighs, agreeing to go to work. Susie is 'fresh' toward her father and Claire urges Ed to drive Susie to school. Ed and Susie leave.]

[As they clear the dishes, Claire tells Dennie that Susie has been misbehaving, then catches herself. Dennie tells her Mom that she's sorry for being so much trouble "not sick or pregnant or anything." Dennie asks if she can stay. Claire's breath is taken away. She hugs Dennie, saying, Of course you can stay! We love you, too!"]

Dennie spends the day cleaning herself up. She cuts her long, tangled hair into the same cute shag she wore as a child.

She tours the empty home, rediscovers her childhood dolls, and has [many memories of] her childhood, filled with idealized images of traditional domesticity. All while having [memories] of her former lifestyle: drugs, sloth, dirt, begging, and free love.

Meanwhile, Dennie's ex-boyfriend [Flack] is eager to find Dennie and bring her back into the itinerant hippie lifestyle. He steals an exterminator's truck, steals a meal from a diner, abandons the first truck, and then steals an ice cream truck, throwing its contents to a flock of grateful schoolkids. Off he goes to find Dennie, cops at his heels.

[Dennie spends time in the closet beneath the stairs. This has nursery wallpaper and was clearly a haven for Susie and Dennie as little kids. Their child voices echo over Dennie as she brings her old toys, including a dollhouse, up to her bedroom. She begins to 'move-in,' putting toys here and there around the room. On her knees by the dollhouse, Dennie plays with the man and woman dolls, within their paper-box traditional domicile, remembering words of love uttered between herself and Flack. Dennie remembers saying to Flack, "We'll always be together and you'll always take care of me." She is lost and hurt. This is dramatically demonstrated as the camera lands on the empty kitchen chair where the man-doll had sat in the toy house.]

[Dennie is holding the man-doll to her cheek, gently rocking and humming along to the waltz of a toy music box. Susie jolts Dennie out of her reverie. Susie is shocked and disappointed about Dennie's hair cut. It's an unspoken departure from the hippie lifestyle. Susie wants to hear about Dennie's adventures, but Dennie doesn't want to talk about it. the girls climb into the closet to sit. They share a bonding moment over their old dolls.]

[The girls are interrupted by a shout. Susie ] [is called to her bedroom where her parents] have trashed it in the search for drugs. There is more shouting. Accusations and counter-accusations are made and denied. The whole family is just stressed out.

[Ed tells Dennie that Susie's friends were arrested for possession of Methadrine.]

[We see a flashback memory of Dennie's where Flack] is on a bad drug trip, [( presumably Methadrine,)] and throws himself through a large glass window. Dennie informs Susie that she "can't handle meth.' [The fighting continues. Dennie huffs off to her own room, shouting, "Don't you see? You're treating her just like you treated me!" She slams the door, but Ed follows, demanding that Dennie tell him where Susie might hide drugs. Dennie is spinning round and round in a chair. Ed stops the chair with both hands, insisting that Dennie answer him. "I can't." she mumbles. Ed straightens up, towering over his daughter. He delivers an ultimatum: Dennie cannot side with Susie if she (Dennie) wants to live in this house. Dennie leaps up, throwing her arms around her Dad, begging him to let her stay. Ed softens up and sits her back down in the chair. He touches her cheek, saying, "I like what you've done with your hair." Dennie blushes at her Daddy, "It's like it was when I was little."]



[For dinner that night, Ed grills big steaks. Dennie is reminded that as a hippie, Flack taught her to dig in the trash for food. He also offered her food scraps left behind by patrons of an outdoor eatery. The family eats in silence until Dennie sighs. She says she is tired and asks to be excused. Ed asks if she has a headache and she says "Just a little one." Claire tells her to take a couple of aspirin and that she, Dennie, is going to see the doctor tomorrow.]

[Checking the bathroom medicine cabinet for aspirin, Dennie [finds evidence ] of Susie's alleged drug problem. Dennie finds cleverly-hidden pills.]

At the doctor's office, Dennie lists all the illegal drugs she's taken. He asks if she's on anything now. She says she's not and it's been over a week. They discuss contraception. Doctor says he already discussed it with Dennie's mother. He gives Dennie a clean bill of health, tempered with, "You could use a little weight. But I'd say you're very healthy, a very pretty girl who seems to be a little nervous about being home.]

Dennie's parents throw a party for [their friends. This is a regular, planned party within their social circle. One guest states it as if she is bored, "I mean, how many of these parties can you go to twice a month on a rotating basis?" ] Dennie plays the perfect hostess as her parents and their friends get drunk and lascivious (which is hypocritical). Susie is upstairs getting high on her pills, and soon crashes the party in what we are supposed to assume is a particularly inappropriate getup, humiliating her folks with her drug-fueled antics. [Dennie is worried sick. Not sure if she should interrupt the adults drunken game of charades to alert the parents to Susie's drug use. ]

Yelling and accusations follow, sober Dennie finally breaks under the pressure of this family strife, she dives into the pool fully dressed, and begins swimming laps, oblivious to her parents' desperate pleas. The other party guests think the whole thing is hilarious.

[The next morning, Flack finally gets to Dennie's family [home, climbs a really tall tree by the swimming pool. He greets Susie who is having an early morning swim. Susie runs to wake Dennie, apologizing "for everything." She urges Dennie outside in her dressing gown to greet Flack. ]

Flack [from the tree] What happened to your hair?

Dennie: I cut it off.

He drops out of the tree. She runs t greet him with a big hug and a kiss. He says he loves her, he is going to Canada and wants her to come along.

Ed and Claire have also come outside in their pajamas to try to reason with the kids.]

[Flack] makes a big speech about how Dennie should follow him to Canada right away to get out of the evil clutches of her messed up family. Dennie's parents witness this scene and everyone starts yelling and screaming. Dennie can't handle it and runs back to her bedroom.[ Flack ] . takes off in his stolen ice cream truck. Dennie stands in the street, screaming his name for a moment. She realizes that the ship has sailed. She is deeply disappointed, but Flack has disappointed her before. Dennie turns to join her worried parents in the driveway.]

Back in the house, the parents discover that Susie has run away. [Ed and Claire are devastated, crushed and looking like the life has drained out of them.]

[We see Susie hitchhiking on the city street. An ice cream truck drives by. ] She's off to be a hippie.

In the last scene, we're back at Dennie's family home [where the morning routine has resumed. Claire is making breakfast. Ed is shaving while the news on the radio drones. Dennie] is dressed like her mother and vacuuming without emotion.