A teenage girl must ingratiate herself into her cult-follower mother's care before her chain-smoking grandmother dies of lung cancer.
It’s the summer of 2011 and wistful HOPE (16) clings to her unapologetic, chain-smoking grandmother LIZA, whose terminal cancer is forcing her to rearrange their lives. In the wake of the PROFESSOR’s arrest, a smarmy yoga guru, Hope and Liza join ADA , Hope’s absentee mother, at THE HOUSE - a multi-level compound offering communal living to a flurry of giggling young women.
Slowly, Hope grows comfortable in her newfound sisterhood, and the routines of the compound, with its sizzling candles and scheduled yoga practice. Her reticence disappears as she develops a small crush on SUNNY, a diligent new recruit. Feeling the need to please her mother, Hope agrees to be initiated as a SHAKTI, “the hidden feminine force of nature”, and blushes her way through learning the secrets of tantric sex and SHIVA’S RITUAL, practiced by initiated recruits during the full moon.
After a night out, Hope ventures inside the TOY ROOM with Sunny, and has her first sexual encounter.
To Hope’s unease, the Professor is released from jail and returns to The House. He’s met with excitement by the others and he preaches to a gushing audience, reminding his followers that their practices cannot be understood by those who are not spiritually trained. As women fawn over him, the Professor shames Hope for refusing to join him in his room. Angered and confused by this turn of events, Hope sneaks her friends - 3 rowdy young boys - onto the property, where they cause a raucous. Before the SUN CEREMONY, Hope visits the Professor in his room to apologize. There, the guru offers to love Hope in a more “profound and complete way” than a parent ever could...
