The Act with subtitle

Doting mother Dee Dee Blanchard and her sweet daughter Gypsy arrive in a new neighborhood, where Gypsy feels lonely due to a barrage of medical issues and eager to make friends. But their new neighbors can be nosy, and Dee Dee and Gypsy have secrets to hide.

Dee Dee is on a high since Gypsy will be given the “Child of the Year Award,” which makes Dee Dee feel like Mother of the Year. But before the big event, Gypsy has a dental emergency that gets the attention of a skeptical doctor who could expose Dee Dee’s secrets.

Dee Dee makes Gypsy play dress up for a costume convention, where they each attract charming men who could dangerously complicate their insular relationship. And Gypsy is starting to question the lies her mother tells her — especially about how old she really is.

Gypsy is getting older and Dee Dee is forced to new legal maneuvers to keep control of her “little girl,” but Dee Dee is limited by her health problems; Gypsy goes to greater lengths than ever to connect with men and experience a sexual awakening.

Gypsy and Nick scheme to meet in person and hope to win Dee Dee's approval, but when their plan goes disastrously wrong they'll be pushed to make an extreme choice in order to be together.

While Gypsy and Nick are on the run, flashbacks to a much younger Dee Dee reveal how trauma with her own mother set her up for conflict with Gypsy.

Gypsy is excited to start over with Nick in Wisconsin, but their new life doesn't match the happily-ever-after she imagined, and her anxiety worsens as past transgressions begin to catch up with them.