梅丽莎（娜奥米·沃茨 Naomi Watts 饰）在一间名为“小小阳光”的便利店里当店员，工作之余，她还要照顾自己行动不便的男友瑞奇（马特·狄龙 Matt Dillon 饰）。梅丽莎和瑞奇的经济状况非常的糟糕，两人蜗居在小小的汽车旅馆中，可即便瑞，乐观开朗的梅丽莎还是对未来充满了希望。 　　一天，梅丽莎意外的发现自己竟然怀孕了。她将这个好消息告诉了瑞奇，于是两人为了迎接这个新生命而开始了准备。然而，就在这个节骨眼上，梅丽莎失业了，祸不单行，她和瑞奇还被赶出了汽车旅馆，失去了最后的庇护。在残酷的现实之下，这对情侣该何去何从呢？Hard-working convenience store clerk Melissa and her disabled boyfriend Richie are trapped in a generational cycle of poverty. Their luck may be changing when they learn that Melissa has become pregnant. But as soon as she loses her job and they get evicted from the motel they live in, their joy vanishes.