The Good Half

The Good Half begins with Renn Wheeland, a man in his mid-30s, standing at the grave of his recently deceased mother alongside family friends. Although they have known Renn all his life, they reveal little to him about the final days of his mother's life. After the funeral, Renn returns to his childhood home in Cleveland, Ohio, which he left years earlier. He now finds himself returning home in an attempt to come to terms with his loss and understand his mother's struggles during her final years. Upon his arrival, Renn meets several people in his life that serve as a catalyst to his healing journey, including a high school sweetheart, Emily Rose, whose relationship had ended shortly after Renn moved away from Cleveland. Emily, who had long since gotten married to Renn's childhood friend and a family member's son, Jake, finds herself still having feelings for Renn and begins exploring if there could be a future for the two in the midst of her already complex and intertwined life. Their rekindled romantic affair forces Emily and Renn to confront their complicated past, and how their separation from one another all those years has affected their lives. Renn also reconnects with his high school friend, Mike, whom he had drifted apart from upon leaving Cleveland. The two men bond over the shared memories of their youth, their families, and their friends, and Mike begins to offer Renn guidance on how to move forward in the face of grief and uncertainty. Throughout Renn's return to Ohio, old wounds begin to surface as a result of both physical visits and phone calls with those close to him. It is through revisiting memories of his childhood, rekindling past relationships, and forming new connections that Renn slowly starts to process his grief. However, despite this newfound progress, Renn's return to Cleveland brings about a series of confrontations that make the complexities of his life, both then and now, increasingly clear to him. He struggles with confronting his estranged father, the circumstances surrounding his mother's final days, and how all these events have affected the family unit as a whole. The journey for Renn to come to terms with his grief, to rediscover the people in his life, and to understand the intricacies of his relationships becomes increasingly intense as he navigates the complexities of his own identity and the lives of those around him. While grappling with feelings of guilt, anxiety, and grief, Renn ultimately finds a way to face his emotions head-on and work towards healing, ultimately finding redemption for himself and his family.