Cathy, a single mother with no time to enjoy herself;
Zare, an exotic stranger looking for a new future;
Molly, the little girl who wants them both to be happy...

Synopsis: Single Mother, CATHY, her eight-year-old daughter, MOLLY, and agoraphobic Mother, BRENDA, live in a functionally dysfunctional rut in a Belfast council flat. Molly wishes her mum could be happy again, the way she remembers before her dad left. Cathy has closed her heart to any possibility of romance, frustrating the hopes of friend and policeman, KEVIN, who secretly holds a torch for her.

Molly discovers ZARE, a penniless Eastern European gypsy, squatting in her hideout. He's ended up in Northern Ireland illegally and is determined to make his way to London for a promised job. He and Molly strike a secret deal: they will share the hideout, and she will teach him English if he gives her tango lessons.

Cathy is aghast when she discovers that Molly and Zare have been spending time together, and she is instinctively suspicious of him, but she feels worse when Molly reveals the reason she didn't tell her mother is that she felt guilty having fun when Cathy so obviously wasn't.

Despite Brenda's protests against the stranger, Cathy gives in to Molly's entreaties to be more involved in her life and agrees to allow Zare to also teach her to tango.

With the trust building during their tango lessons Zare gradually begins to integrate himself into Cathy's household, much to Molly's delight, as she sees him as a breath of desperately needed fresh air. Even Brenda begins to warm to his gentle enthusiasm as he gradually draws Cathy out of herself, and her out of the flat. Cathy discovers, not only a passion for the tango, but for Zare. And Zare doesn’t hesitate to postpone his plans to go to London.

Brimming with a zest for life, self-confidence, and renewed energy Cathy enters a dance competition. They are thrilled when they make the finals.

Kevin is crushed when he discovers she has opened her heart to another man. In vain he tells her he loves her, but she's in love with Zare. Hoping to gain favour with Cathy by searching for anything to discredit Zare, Kevin reveals that Zare is married and a father. Cathy is devastated. The scab of her previous betrayal ripped off, she accuses Zare of using her family. Zare explains that his wife and child are dead: the reason for trying to escape his painful loss and for trying to get to London.

The incident drives a wedge between them. Hurt and angry at Cathy's lack of trust and swift judgement, Zare proudly refuses her apologies and prepares to leave Belfast. To Molly's dismay Cathy allows his departure and willingly accepts his rejection. In a flash she has rebuilt her emotional guard.

Molly goes missing, and Zare drops everything to find her. In an ecstatic moment when all three are reunited, however, neither Cathy nor Zare is willing to risk their feelings for one another.

Once so optimistic, Molly is now resigned to things returning to normal. However, Cathy determines to be the instigator of Molly's and her own happiness, and what better start than to dance the tango at the final? With Molly as her partner! Molly beams and Brenda, infected with their joy, manages to overcome her fears and cheer them on.

Mortified that he was the cause of Cathy's further unhappiness, Kevin decides to help Zare get the necessary paperwork for his trip. He can't help himself and at the last moment berates Zare for passing up the chance of the love of a lifetime. Zare can't argue with what he realises is true, and he rushes back to find himself blown away when he sees Cathy and Molly out on the dance floor: dancing, laughing, and happy!

Zare understands that whilst he taught Cathy to dance, they taught each other to feel again. With his hand he asks her to dance, to trust, and to love again. Cathy takes it. And Molly twirls around and around on the dance floor, delighted to see her mother happy again.

• Format: 35mm
• Budget: €2.5 million
• Genre: Romantic Comedy
• Development: MEDIA Slate; Northern Ireland Screen (NIS); Irish Film Board (IFB)
• Production: Buena Vista International (Ireland); UK Tax Credit, Post facility deal, Applications to Northern Ireland Screen; Irish Film Board;
• Cast: Martine McCutcheon ('Love Actually')
• Sales Agent: East-West Distribution
• Partners sought: Private Equity, Distributors
• Producers: Tamara Anghie (Borderline Productions, N. Ireland); Edwina Forkin (Zanzibar Films, Ireland), Steve Walsh – Executive Producer (Steve Walsh Productions)
• Writer/Director: Audrey O'Reilly