SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!
In Boston, Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are expecting a child – Sean works in construction and Martha is taking her maternity leave from a corporate job.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Pieces of a Woman Plot Summary and Synopsis
Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are expecting their first child. Martha goes into labor and Sean calls their midwife, Barbara; she is unavailable and sends another midwife, Eva, in her place. Martha struggles with nausea and pain during contractions and, when she reaches ten centimeters, Eva realizes the baby’s heart rate has dropped dangerously low. Sean asks Eva if they are safe to continue and Eva says yes. Martha soon gives birth to a baby girl. Eva then notices the baby is turning blue and attempts to revive her, but she goes into cardiac arrest and dies.
The following month, Martha and Sean attend an appointment with a coroner; Sean is eager to find out what went wrong, while Martha is reluctant. They learn the cause of death has not yet been established but are told they were able to determine that the baby was in a low-oxygen environment and have started proceedings against Eva. Sean leaves, overcome with emotion, while Martha remains and decides that she wants to donate the baby’s body to science.
Martha’s relationship with Sean continues to struggle, as well as with her overbearing mother Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn) who wants to bury the baby and have a funeral. Both Martha and Sean remain deeply depressed. Sean later starts to have an affair with Martha’s cousin, Suzanne and begins using cocaine after being sober for almost seven years. Suzanne, who also is the attorney prosecuting Eva, informs him that a potential lawsuit against Eva could be very lucrative.
Elizabeth blames Martha for the baby’s death because she decided to have a home birth, and also tells her she has to attend Eva’s trial. Elizabeth then tells Sean she never liked him. She offers him money to leave and never return. Martha drops Sean off at the airport and he leaves for Seattle.
Months later, Martha testifies at Eva’s trial. Afterward, the judge allows her to address the court, in which she states that Eva is not at fault for the death and she does not blame her. Back home, she discovers that the apple seeds she started in her refrigerator have started to sprout. A month later Martha scatters her daughter’s ashes into the river.
Pieces of a Woman Ending
Years later, a little girl climbs an apple tree. Martha helps her down and the two go inside together.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).