Intrigue

A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Violet Weston (Meryl Streep) has cancer and a propensity for pills and alcohol. She's a difficult woman to deal with and her husband has finally had enough. Violet's family gathers including middle daughter Ivy, youngest daughter Karen (with her new fiancé), eldest daughter Barbara (with her separated husband and teenage daughter), and her sister Mattie Fae (with her husband and son in tow). A family tragedy causes tensions to run high and secrets to come out. The Weston women will be forced to examine themselves and their lives whether they want to or not. Welcome to Osage County, Oklahoma in the sweltering heat of August.—napierslogs

August: Osage County tells the tale of the dysfunctional Westin clan, who all come together after the death of patriarch Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard). His wife Violet (Meryl Streep), who is fighting mouth cancer and a growing dependency on pain pills, sees her entire clan return home for the services, including her sister Mattie Fae Aiken (Margo Martindale) and her husband Charles (Chris Cooper) and their son "Little" Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch). Also arriving are Violet's three daughters: Barbara (Julia Roberts) and her husband Bill (Ewan McGregor), Ivy (Julianne Nicholson), and wild child Karen (Juliette Lewis), who brings her fiance Steve (Dermot Mulroney). As the clan bickers and jokes, old truths come to the surface, jealousies flourish, and eventually each of the characters confronts some past hurt or future fear..

Family members of married Beverly and Violet Weston - the former an academic and successful published poet - convene at the family home in rural Osage County, Oklahoma during an August heatwave first on the news that Beverly has disappeared, this not the first such time he has voluntarily wandered off but which Violet believes is for good this time in the growing rift between the two, and then second upon Beverly's body being found in a suicidal drowning. Beverly's intentions may have been telegraphed by he having just hired compassionate Johnna Monevata, a young Cheyenne woman, as a cook and live-in caregiver much to Violet's displeasure. The rift between husband and wife was only exacerbated by issues surrounding Violet's mouth cancer, their relationship only one of the many dysfunctions between family members. That family includes Violet's sister Mattie Fae Aiken, and Beverly and Violet's three adult daughters Barbara, Ivy and Karen. Mattie Fae, her husband Charles, and their underachieving son "Little" Charles, live locally, and while Charles does whatever he can to support their son in his love for him, Mattie Fae does nothing but berate Little Charles and his underachievement. Violet and Mattie Fae were emotionally and physically abused by their mother and her various boyfriends when they were children, which is a large part of the dysfunction with their respective children. Colorado-based Barbara, the "responsible" daughter, has come with her academic husband Bill Fordham and their fourteen year old daughter Jean. Barbara has largely taken on the role of sole guardian to Jean as Bill has moved out in having an affair with a younger woman, something that Barbara has not told anyone else in her family. In the process, Jean resents her mother. Ivy, the "lost" daughter, is the only one of the three who has remained in Osage County to be there for her parents, and in the process has felt she has forgone her own life, she only having recently found love in nearing age fifty, she not having told anyone largely because of with who she has fallen in love. And Miami-based Karen, the somewhat unaware wild child, has come with her older fiancé, flashy fourfold divorced Steve Huberbrecht. As the dysfunction comes to a head especially between Violet and the girls and as the girls have to decide what to do about Violet in this last part of her life, a larger question becomes whether any of the girls can break the cycle of dysfunction.—Huggo

The title designates place and location: an unusually hot August in a rural area outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma 60 miles Northwest of Tulsa. Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard), a once-noted, alcoholic poet, interviews and hires a young native American woman Johnna (Misty Upham) as a live-in cook and caregiver for his strong-willed and contentious wife Violet (Meryl Streep), who is suffering from mouth cancer and addiction to narcotics.

Barbara is mean to everyone, abusing towards Beverly, and accuses him of hiring Johnna with the intention of having sex with her. Beverly has to be driven down to Tulsa for her Chemotherapy treatments. Beverly tells Johnna that poetry books became his last resort to escape the misery of his life with Violet.

Shortly after this, he disappears from the house, and Violet calls her sister and daughters for support. Violet's hair is almost gone due to her chemotherapy treatment and wears a wig for her vanity.

Her sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale) arrives with husband Charles Aiken (Chris Cooper). Violet's youngest daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) is single and the only one living locally. Violet berates Ivy for not wearing make-up due and says that she will get a man if she makes a little bit of effort.

Barbara (Julia Roberts), her oldest, who has inherited her mother's strong will, arrives from Colorado with her husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and 14-year-old daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin). Barbara and Bill are separated and having marriage difficulties, but they put up a united front for Violet. Finally, middle daughter Karen (Juliette Lewis) arrives with the latest in a string of boyfriends, Steve Heidebrecht (Dermot Mulroney), a sleazy Florida businessman whom she introduces as her fiance.

Even though it is insanely hot, Violet refuses to turn on the air conditioning. Violet is also racist and refuses to consider that originally America belonged to the Native Americans. Violet has the habit to win arguments by supposedly revealing the truth, which her kids are not aware of. She claims that Barbara was Beverly's favorite child and was disappointed in her, as she settled for Bill. Barbara is livid that Violet takes her drug pills, but Violet acts the victim and says that her mouth burns due to the cancer.

After five days, the sheriff shows up with the news that Beverly took his boat out on the lake and has drowned. Barbara identifies the body and makes the funeral arrangements. Mattie Fae's and Charles' shy, awkward son "Little Charles" (Benedict Cumberbatch), misses the funeral because he overslept, and is met at the bus station by his father. Charles loves Little Charles, though Mattie constantly belittles her son's intelligence and calls him a loser. Charles believes that Little Charles is very close to Violet in terms of his behavior and mannerisms.

Ivy confides to her sisters that she is in love with Little Charles, her cousin, who plans to move to New York, and that she cannot have children because she had a hysterectomy. She feels this is her only chance to finally marry.

The family sits down to an awkward dinner after the funeral, fueled by Violet's brutally honest "truth telling" which results in Barbara jumping on her mother. Violet ends up attacking each and every member of the family with her verbal insults & she preys on their most intimate secrets to make them feel vulnerable and depressed.

Barbara decides she has had enough of the drug addiction and confiscates all her pills. Later, after Violet has had a chance to sober up, she has a tender moment with her daughters and reveals that her own mother had a cruel streak. Violet shares a story that demonstrates how cruel her own mother was when she longed for a new pair of cowgirl boots when she was in her early teens. Instead of giving Violet the boots she wanted, her mother gave her a beautifully wrapped box on Christmas morning containing old, filthy men's work boots as a vicious prank.

That evening, Steve and Jean are sharing a joint. Steve comes on to Jean, gets her stoned, asks her to show him her breasts, and starts to assault her. Johnna is woken by their conversation, sees this, and attacks him with a shovel. The commotion wakes up Barbara, Bill, and Karen who rush outside. Barbara confronts Jean and slaps her. This compels Bill to take Jean back to Colorado, leaving Barbara. Karen refuses to admit that her relationship is doomed and also leaves with Steve.

As Little Charles sings Ivy a song he has written for her, Mattie Fae walks in and berates him. This exhausts Charles' patience with his wife's lack of love and compassion for her son, and he angrily tells her he is taking Little Charles and leaving, with or without her. Mattie Fae subsequently reveals to Barbara, who unintentionally listened in, that long ago she had an affair with Beverly, and Little Charles is in fact their younger half-brother as well as their cousin and that is the true reason why he and Ivy cannot be together. Barbara promises to try to discourage Ivy from marrying Little Charles, while not revealing the secret.

Later, Ivy tries to tell her mother about her relationship with Little Charles. Barbara tries to deflect the admission to protect Ivy from the truth. Violet tells Ivy that Charles is actually her brother, something Violet knew all along. Devastated, Ivy leaves and promises to never come back.

In the last confrontation between Violet and Barbara, Violet admits she was contacted by Beverly from his motel the week after he had left home but did nothing to help him until after she removed money from the couple's joint safe deposit box. By that time, he had already killed himself.

This revelation leads Barbara to depart, realizing that her mother is far beyond help. Violet is left with only Johnna. Violet begins dancing to loud music but quickly becomes too upset and goes off to find Johnna for comfort.

Barbara, driving through the plains, gets out of the car and cries. She then gets back in the car and continues west, following signage showing highways and number of miles to Wichita, Salina, and Denver.