Dulcinea

A smart, well-read college freshman, 110-pound Bree’s in the grip of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) that has besieged her since she was twelve. Taking herself off her medications, Bree finds herself on a downward spiral, embodied by the intermittent presence and voice of the suicide-driven poet Sylvia Plath, whose poems are Bree’s favorites. This hormonal imbalance has led Bree into violent, imprudent behavior throughout her adolescence. Her aggression toward her brothers and sister precipitates her court-ordered admission into a Psychological Medical Institution for Children when she’s thirteen. Only her media-savvy mother, Samantha, is able to win her release by essentially blackmailing the governor. Samantha then persuades Bree to take a different view of herself: that of Dulcinea from the film Man of la Mancha, and gives her the Daumier Man of la Mancha print Sam has had since her college days. The two having shared multiple positive one-on-one experiences throughout Bree’s life (which are retold in flashbacks), the mother-daughter emotional ties are profound. So, Samantha’s urge to intervene once Bree goes off to college tests the young mother as Bree tests her to her limit. Now that Bree is 18 and legally an adult, she must determine on her own that her medicine is still necessary. But she cannot. Gang-raped on the eve of 9/11, she returns to her mother’s suburban Atlanta home and goes on a rampage setting fires in the house. Her mother calls the police who let Bree know that, now that she’s a legal adult, she must leave until she agrees to some basic rules of the house. Cast adrift homeless, she hooks up with Marty after he intervenes when Bree’s drunk boss tries to have sex with her. Marty’s new to Georgia and, when meeting one of their new housemates, the drug pusher Tim, discovers his homosexuality and is convinced he’s in love with Tim. A workaholic, Bree takes on three part-time jobs and, feeling obliged to Marty, tries to befriend him as best she can. Bree is constantly listening to Plath who doesn’t want Bree to eat any longer. Suicidal thoughts start to plague Bree as she loses weight. She sees Marty selling drugs alongside Tim and cautions him. He doesn’t listen. Bree returns one night from her job to find Marty has OD’ed. She gets him to the hospital in time but the police come to their commune and find drugs in his belongings that Tim has planted there. Marty’s arrested and Bree tries valiantly to raise his bail money, finally even selling her car to do so. Marty’s mother comes to Atlanta and promises to repay Bree as the mother and son arrange to go back to Ohio until his court hearing. With few options left, Bree calls her Dad Steve to ask him to come get her. She gets to his house in Chattanooga to find his place complete mess – a situation that reviles her. Causing her more anguish, he doesn’t want to pay her way to attend University of TN because she is now considered an out-of-state resident. The two of them argue and Steve tells her she can leave. Sylvia Plath constantly accompanies Bree, luring her to commit suicide. Bree calls an old GA high school friend, Daphne, who attends Kennesaw State College, and asks if she can move in with her. No longer eating, Bree moves into Daphne’s cramped one bedroom apartment and starts working two jobs again. Meeting Daphne’s new boyfriend, Cary, Bree’s now worried Daphne will want Cary to move in into their already too small apartment. This would mean Daphne will ask Bree to move out. Meanwhile, Samantha confides in her co-worker, Lena, that she knows Bree has been to Tennessee and is now back. Seeing Bree from afar as the teen goes into work at the AMC, Samantha admits her pain knowing Bree is starving herself. Samantha has been monitoring Bree through her email account, Bree having given her mother her password years before. Despite all her excruciating heartbreak and desire to help Bree, Samantha knows she has to be firm and wait for her daughter to resolve her inner struggles. A mother’s love comes along with wisdom and costs dearly. At the courthouse, Bree sees Marty and his mother who send his lawyer to tell her she cannot meet Marty or his mother because they intend to blame Bree for planting the drugs in his bag. Shattered, she goes to the library and sends herself a suicidal poem, Sylvia Plath reading it over her shoulder. Then Bree leaves. Samantha logs on to Bree’s account minutes later and reads the emailed suicide poem. Frantically, she calls Lena and begs her to find Bree who must be close to Lena’s house. Bree goes into a wooded ravine behind Daphne’s apartment, downs all of her pills, covers herself with a pile of leaves and waits. Waiting nearby, Plath sees a dog approaching. By the time the dog owner arrives, the canine has unearthed Bree’s hand. Meanwhile, a devastated Samantha waits word at her house. In a daze, she wanders up to Bree’s room and opens the door to see the Daumier print. She collapses, racked by sobs. Finally, Lena calls to tell her they are at the hospital and Bree will be okay. Samantha tells Lena to remind Bree she is Sam’s Dulcinea. Lena talks to Bree and Bree explains her disgust with life. Lena advises her to make a plan and see it through. In a state of revolt, Bree doesn’t want to listen and later that day goes back to her apartment where Daphne asks her to move out. All Bree’s attempts to fashion a life on her own have come to nothing. Walking to work along the busy 5-lane road, Bree collapses and faints within inches of the speeding traffic. Hearing the closing song of Man of la Mancha, she comes to and staggers to a store parking lot where there is a public phone, calls her mom and asks to see her. Samantha says yes, asking where they should meet. Bree says she is just a ten minute walk away. Sylvia Plath continues to dog her, even as Bree approaches the house. The mother and daughter meet at the door and Bree asks to return home. Samantha says there are two stipulations to that and asks Bree what they are. Bree acknowledges she has to stay on her medications and respect people in the house. Sam welcomes her home. It’ll take months for Bree to recover from nearly starving to death but the process is now begun.