Tonight, the four Pelican sisters - Joy, Storm, Sage, and Maya - gather one last time in their childhood Bristol home to celebrate the birthday of their late mother, Rosemary Pelican. A passionate feminist who never missed a protest for world peace, equal rights, or environmental justice, a devoted John Lennon fan who always followed her own path, Rosemary passed away eight months ago.
The sisters are also there to divide their inheritance - because despite their mother's contempt for capitalism and her loathing of money, paperwork, and "all that shit," she made quite a shrewd investment back in 1977 when she bought this beautiful house in the city center.
Storm, who spent the last two years caring for their sick mother, feels she deserves compensation for the difficult times she endured. But Joy, Sage, and Maya have their own plans and are counting on their share from the house sale. Instead of a pleasant, nostalgic evening, secrets and lies emerge, cracks widen, claws come out, and teeth are bared. As if that weren't enough, the increasingly complicated plot welcomes Paul - Joy's insufferable husband, Dodo (yes, like the extinct bird) - Maya's new boyfriend from her India travels, their wheelchair-bound grandmother, and Luke - the irritating younger brother. And above them all looms their mother's lingering presence, still refusing to let go.
"The Last of the Pelican Daughters" is a touching comedy about four sisters trying to come to terms with their mother's death, and despite moments when it seems impossible - with each other.