A day-in-the-life dark comedy concerning a group of islanders, their respective secrets, and one man's plan to kill himself quietly.
Wilby is the name of a small island in the Canadian Maritimes and the name of the main town located on the island. According to residents, there are two types of people who live on Wilby: islanders (people who were born on Wilby) and non-islanders. Among the townsfolk of Wilby are: single mom and recently returned islander Sandra Anderson, who was known as the girl in town with the reputation, something that has not changed in her adult years; Sandra's teen-aged daughter, Emily, who doesn't want to end up like her mother but can only think about making out with her new boyfriend; Buddy French, the local police officer who is having unspoken marital problems with his non-islander wife, Carol, the town realtor whose controlling behavior is pushing her and others around her on the verge of a nervous breakdown; the Mayor, Brent Fisher, who is secretly planning for his life post politics; dyslexic Duck McDonald, the town handyman; and recently separated non-islander Dan Jarvis who, because of activities at the island's seaside hangout called "The Watch", wants to kill himself if only people would leave him alone. As the townsfolk interact with each other, most are looking for the same thing as summed up by Duck to Emily in speaking about her mother: "She wants to love and be loved, just like all of us".—Huggo
Dan Jarvis has climbed up onto the bridge in preparation to jump when fellow Wilby resident Duck pulls up, ruining Dan's suicide attempt. So begins, for Dan, the first of his multiple ruined suicide attempts throughout the course of the 24 hours in which the movie takes place. Emily, the daughter of a woman well known on the small island community for being a slut, runs off early in the morning, meets up with the mayor's daughter, and then they meet two boys. Emily is seen making out heavily with one of them, while her friend merely stands there with the other one. When she returns to the coffeeshop her mother now manages, Sandra (the mother) quickly realizes what she's been up to and exclaims happily, much to Emily's dismay. Carol French, meanwhile, is constantly on the phone with different people, busy being an efficient realtor as her husband, police officer Buddy French clears out his mother's home. Buddy is unable to find anyone who cares about the fact that his mother just died, and goes to the local Watch, the last piece of undeveloped land on the coast, where there is currently a scandal of supposed drugs and gay sex. Searching the area for evidence with colleague Stan, the brother of the mayor's wife, he realizes this is nothing but corrupt government as Stan obviously places the needles on the ground before exclaiming. Dan Jarvis is foiled again and again in his suicide attempts, and Buddy has an affair with Sandra. Carol finally has a momentary breakdown in front of Duck, who messed up the banners hung around the town, which read "Wilby Wonderful" instead of "Wonderful Wilby." Finally that night, Emily gets into a fight with Sandra, exclaiming that she'd rather be anyone but her mother, before storming out the door to meet her boyfriend at a motel. Dan is at said motel, and Duck is parked outside, watching out for him as he'd been throughout the film. When he sees Dan come out, Duck approaches him, and a short but sweet scene evolves, revealing that Duck loves Dan, and Dan is depressed because when he told his wife he was gay, his wife told him to "rot in hell." Duck comments on the fact that he likes Dan's rough cheeks, and Dan excuses himself soon after. Carol and Buddy are hosting dinner for the mayor and his family, who wishes to see the house that just opened up, and Carol eventually excuses herself to rush over before the mayor goes. Emily has finally realized that her boyfriend is an asshole, and locks him out of the motel room. Duck comes over and gets rid of the angry teen, rescuing Emily, and the two sit in his car for a while. Dan has gone to the house the mayor's about to see, and sets up a noose for himself, and has it around his neck and is standing on a chair when he feels his face and remembers what Duck said. Smiling slightly, he reaches up to free his neck, when the chair leg breaks and he's left hanging. Carol comes in and sees the body and cuts him down, shoving him in the closet, then proceeds to give the mayor and his family the tour. The daughter finds the body, however. The mayor's plan to turn the Watch into a golf course is revealed when Buddy catches Stan planting used needles there, and the mayor is blackmailed into not doing it. Emily goes home the next morning and meets her mother, and apologizes for what she said, acknowledging her mother was correct. Dan wakes up in the hospital, glad to be alive, and there is Duck waiting for him. Buddy and Carol start again, beginning to patch up their broken marriage.
