Jacob Turner hasn't been home for almost 20 years, not since his mentally-ill mother kicked him out of the house when he was 16. When a lawyer calls, days before Christmas, to inform him that his estranged mother has passed away and left her house to him, Jacob returns, not just to settle the estate but to try to reconcile with the past and the pain and abuse he experienced as a child. Also, maybe cleaning out her house will be slightly less depressing than spending the holidays alone, watching re-runs of Christmas classics. But as it turns out, the house holds more than just difficult memories, Jacob's mother had become a hoarder and he must excavate through two decades' worth of clutter.