Tom Berenger and Joely Richardson star in this heartwarming festive tale of two broken-hearted souls who find solace in each other's company. Moving to the countryside after the death of her husband, widower Susan McDowell (Richardson) and her grief-ridden son Thomas (Luke Ward-Wilkinson) must start life anew. When a treasured wooden nativity scene that Thomas's father gave to her son is lost, Susan calls on the help of local, ill-tempered woodcarver Jonathan Toomey (Berenger) to recreate the scene. Toomey's own life has been destroyed by the accidental death of his wife and child some years before, and since then he has withdrawn from the close-knit community. Over the course of the coming months, as Thomas is allowed to watch Jonathan work, the relationship between the two develops into a mutually beneficial one, as they both learn to come to terms with their loss, and finally manage to put the past behind them.