This Is 40
A married couple approaching forty struggles with financial problems, rebellious daughters, and hidden secrets including pregnancy and addiction while navigating family dysfunction, confronting their own parents, and ultimately rediscovering their commitment to each other through crisis and reconciliation.
This is 40 Plot Summary
Middle-Age Crisis
Five years have passed since the events that brought Pete and Debbie together. Debbie now owns a boutique clothing store, managing a small staff that includes two contrasting employees. Jodi is a frumpy, cynical woman whose negative attitude extends to her poor sales performance. Desi, in contrast, is attractive and talented at her job, generating excellent sales figures. Debbie and Jodi frequently gossip about Desi, with Jodi expressing intense resentment toward Desi’s mere existence.
Pete operates his own record label, pursuing his passion for music rather than commercial success. However, the business struggles financially as Pete invests resources in promoting the reunion of Graham Parker & The Rumour, a band whose cultural moment has long passed. The financial strain creates tension that neither spouse addresses directly.
Their household dynamics are further complicated by conflict between their daughters. Thirteen-year-old Sadie and eight-year-old Charlotte fight constantly, their arguments creating an atmosphere of perpetual tension that exhausts both parents.
Birthday Escape
For Debbie’s 40th birthday, the couple arranges a romantic weekend getaway to a resort, hoping distance from their daily responsibilities will rekindle their connection. During the trip, they consume marijuana edibles without realizing their potency. Under the influence, they engage in a darkly humorous conversation, fantasizing aloud about various methods they might use to kill each other. The exchange reveals underlying resentments dressed as jokes.
After returning home, Debbie consults with her friends Jason and Barb about her marriage struggles. Their advice inspires Debbie to take action on multiple fronts. She commits to improving her marriage and family life through regular exercise and by strengthening her relationship with her father Oliver, with whom she shares a distant and complicated history.
Debbie also recognizes their financial problems stem partly from Pete’s inability to establish boundaries with his father Larry. She tells Pete he must stop lending Larry money, as these loans are damaging their financial stability. Pete agrees but fails to follow through, continuing to give his father funds whenever Larry requests them.
Secrets and Confrontations
Debbie discovers she is pregnant but makes the deliberate choice not to tell Pete. She keeps this significant information secret, adding another layer of deception to their already strained relationship.
At school, Debbie becomes involved in a conflict between Sadie and a student named Joseph. The two teenagers had an online argument on Facebook that escalated beyond normal teenage drama. Debbie confronts Joseph directly, yelling at the boy in a manner that crosses appropriate boundaries. This leads to a confrontation between Pete and Joseph’s mother Catherine, who objects to Debbie’s aggressive behavior toward her son.
Debbie takes Desi out dancing at a nightclub. Her stated purpose is social bonding, but she actually plans to confront Desi about $12,000 in missing store funds. Jodi has told Debbie that Desi stole the money, providing what appears to be evidence of embezzlement.
At the club, they encounter several players from the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. One of the athletes expresses clear interest in Debbie, wanting to spend time with her and implying sexual availability. Debbie finds herself flattered by the attention from a younger, attractive man. However, she reveals her actual situation: she is married, has two children, and is pregnant. The hockey player responds with grace and politeness, and they part amicably.
Family Dysfunction
The constant fighting between Sadie and Charlotte escalates to the point where the school becomes involved. Pete and Debbie meet with the school principal to discuss their daughters’ behavior. During this meeting, Catherine accuses Pete and Debbie of using inappropriate language around their children and failing to model proper conflict resolution.
The couple denies Catherine’s accusations, becoming defensive about their parenting. When Catherine begins using the same foul language Pete and Debbie had employed in previous confrontations, the principal dismisses all parties, recognizing that none of the adults are behaving appropriately.
When Debbie finally confronts Desi about the missing $12,000, the truth emerges in an unexpected direction. Desi reveals she works as an escort in addition to her boutique job. Her expensive possessions and lifestyle are funded through sex work, not embezzlement. Desi has not stolen anything from the store.
Shortly after this revelation, Jodi confesses to stealing the $12,000 herself. She has been supporting an OxyContin addiction, using store funds to purchase prescription painkillers. Debbie fires Jodi immediately upon learning the truth.
The Breaking Point
Pete’s 40th birthday party becomes the setting for multiple confrontations. Pete and Debbie argue again about money, specifically about the funds Larry continues requesting. Debbie insists Pete must establish boundaries with his father, while Pete defends his loyalty to Larry despite the financial damage.
Debbie confronts her own father Oliver about his absence from her life. She expresses resentment about his lack of involvement while simultaneously accusing him of presenting himself as perfect. Oliver responds by explaining that his life is far from perfect. He has always cared about Debbie and loved her, even if his actions failed to demonstrate this adequately.
Later during the party, Pete overhears Debbie discussing her pregnancy with someone else. Learning about the pregnancy secondhand, after weeks of Debbie keeping it secret, enrages Pete. He storms out of the house on his bicycle, fleeing the party and his wife.
Debbie and Larry pursue Pete in a car, trying to catch up and convince him to return. While cycling aggressively through traffic, Pete collides with a car door that opens unexpectedly. He crashes and gets into an argument with the driver who opened the door. The confrontation escalates physically, and the driver punches Pete in the stomach.
Reconciliation
Debbie and Larry take the injured Pete to the hospital for treatment. The crisis creates space for honest conversation. Larry acknowledges something he has perhaps never said aloud: Debbie is the fighter who keeps their family together. Her strength and determination have held Pete, their daughters, and their life intact despite constant pressures.
Pete’s anger dissipates as he processes the pregnancy news. He realizes he is actually thrilled about having another child. The initial shock of learning about it secondhand fades, replaced by genuine excitement about their expanding family. Pete and Debbie reconcile, acknowledging their failures in communication while recommitting to their marriage.
New Beginnings
Some time later, Pete and Debbie attend a small concert together. Ryan Adams performs, demonstrating the kind of musical talent and commercial viability Pete’s label needs. Debbie suggests Pete should sign Adams to his record label, offering both professional advice and personal encouragement. They plan to approach Adams after the show concludes, working together as partners rather than adversaries. Their collaboration on this opportunity suggests healing in their relationship and renewed faith in each other’s judgment.
