Ruby is a senior in high school and the only hearing member of her deaf family
including her father Frank mother Jackie and older brother Leo
She works on her father’s fishing boat with her father and brother
and enjoys singing as she does so
She translates for her entire family and for their business to the hearing people on the docks
and when money doesn’t come in like they think it should
Leo suggests selling their own fish directly
Meanwhile, Ruby spends her days at school with her best friend Gertie
where some of the other kids make fun of her for smelling like fish and for having a deaf family
Ruby has a crush on Miles and so when she sees him signing up for choir, she does so as well
After school, her parents pick her up in their truck with the music blasting embarrassing Ruby
She accompanies her parents to a doctor’s appointment
and has to be deeply embarrassed when having to translate the information
that they have jock itch
a common ailment among fishermen for being in damp clothes
As the family has dinner together Leo swipes on Tinder
Choir class begins and the teacher,Mr. Villalobos
asks each student to sing a little so he can learn their vocal parts
but When it’s Ruby’s turn, she becomes too nervous and emotional and runs out of the room
She goes to the water and sings by herself
but then returns home to discover her parents arguing over money having
credit cards being declined and bills mounting
Frank says maybe they sell their boat
Meanwhile, at the docks
all the fishermen are told that they are going to have to pay eight hundred dollars a day
out of pocket for federal observers to come to make sure they are following all their regulations
deeply frustrating all the fishermen who say they can’t afford it
Back at school, Ruby goes back to Mr. Villalobos and explains when she was little
she used to get made fun of for the way she sounded
because she spoke like a deaf person and she sometimes gets nervous
Later, Mr. Villalobos finally hears Ruby sing and is very impressed with her voice
He eventually chooses her to sing a duet at the fall concert and pairs her with Miles
and He instructs them to practice together
At the docks Ruby finds that Leo is selling the fish for
less than they are worth and yells at him about it
She runs into her father outside smoking weed
At school, Mr. Villalobos has Ruby and Miles sing their duet from him
and finds they are totally out of sync
they practiced separately not together
He tells them to fix it and afterward asks Ruby what her plans after graduating are
Ruby says she isn’t going to college because her family can’t afford it
He an alum of the Berklee College of Music
says they have auditions coming up and have scholarships
asks her how she feels when she sings and she signs her response
He offers to tutor her to prepare her for the audition
but warms her not to waste his time She accepts
When Ruby tells her mother
she doesn’t seem excited
hurting Ruby’s feelings
Jackie wonders if she was blind if Ruby would take up painting
Meanwhile, Leo has the idea to start a co-op for their sales,
but Frank says it would never work, because the other fisherman thinks he’s a joke
Leo goes with the fisherman to their local bar but can’t really communicate with them
When someone spills their drink on him, he gets into a bar fight
Gertie, who works at the bar, talks to him after communicating via text
and the two ends up making out in a backroom
Miles comes over to work with Ruby
Slightly uncomfortable and not knowing where to look the two sing back to back
and she tells him about her parents' illness
At school, other kids begin making fun of Ruby about her parents,
and she angrily confronts Miles for telling
Miles insists he just told one person but Ruby storms off
At practice, Ruby works on her piece Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
Mr. Villalobos encourages her to get angry, and sing from emotion
A council addresses the fisherman about the observers
Frank ends up standing up to speak which Ruby translates
He decides to use Leo’s idea
he says they’re starting their own co-op
and tells everyone to bring their catch to him and he will sell it for double
At home, Jackie is horrified
Leo says they can finally be part of the fishing community
but Jackie says they aren’t and will never be
since they can’t communicate with them
Frank points to Ruby as their way of communicating
Ruby begins working constantly on the new business
doing all the translating and keeping up her very busy practice schedule
Jackie tries to communicate with the other wives but feels left out
Mr. Villalobos gets angry with Ruby for being late and not taking the work seriously
He warns her if she is late one more time he will be done tutoring her
Miles finds Ruby and tells her he’s sorry
and that he actually admired that she has a family who all love each other unlike his family
At the business, a news crew comes to interview Frank and Jackie
Ruby needs to get to practice and Jackie yells at her that she can’t go
She accuses Ruby of wanting them to fail
Ruby stays and translates for the interview
then rushes to Mr. Villalobos‘s house but he
doesn’t answer the door done with Ruby not being committed
At school, she goes to see him and apologize
but he refuses to continue with her saying he doesn’t need a lesson in failure
Ruby tells her family about how much she loves singing
and has a fight with the family about being their interpreter and how exhausted she is
Later, Jackie and Frank argue about Ruby going to college,
with Jackie not wanting her to go, wondering what if she’s an awful singer
She says she doesn’t want her baby to go and Frank says she was never a baby
Angry with her family Ruby doesn’t go to work
and the observer shows up to monitor Frank’s boat
While Ruby and Miles go swimming together
the observer realizes there is no one hearing working on the boat,
and calls the coast guard neither Frank nor Leo hear the sirens
Frank’s license is suspended
and he is levied with huge fines which he won’t be able to pay back without getting back on the water
The only way they can do that is with a hearing deckhand,
which Jackie says they can’t afford to hire
and Frank says Ruby is the hearing deckhand
Ruby becomes incredibly emotional asking how they can say it’s Ruby’s fault
When Frank says he’ll sell the business
Ruby agrees to give up on college, and stay and work on the boat insisting she’s excited
Leo gets angry and storms out
Jackie buys Ruby a nice dress for her concert and explains to Ruby that Leo just feels left out
Ruby says if anything, she’s the one out
She asks Jackie if she ever wishes she was deaf
and Jackie tells her that when she found out she was hearing her heart sank
because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to communicate with her,
but she loves her the way she is
Ruby goes to see Leo who says Ruby can sing and needs to follow that
He says he hasn’t been able to do anything with the business
and is tired of being babied and not being allowed to participate
Ruby says it’s only because it all involves talking to hearing people
and Leo says he doesn’t care let the hearing people figure out how to talk to them
At the concert, the family can’t hear Ruby perform but Gertie tells them she’s doing good
Afterward, Mr. Villalobos introduces himself
attempting to say nice to meet you in sign but accidentally saying fuck you
He tells them they’re making a terrible mistake
not letting Ruby go to school, but Ruby doesn’t translate it
After the concert Frank asks Ruby what her song was about
and asks her to sing it for him
The next day, the whole family takes Ruby to her Berklee audition
The family is told they can’t go into the audition room with Ruby
who goes in and finds Miles who says he choked at his audition
The audition begins, and Ruby realizes she left her sheet music
She’s unsure how to go on, when Mr. Villalobos enters and offers to accompany her
She starts off a little rough,
and Mr. Villalobos messes up the piano on purpose to let her start again
Her family enters up on the top row of the theater and Ruby sings Both Sides Now,
while signing the words
Frank trains a new hearing deckhand and the business begins going well
Jackie even bonds with the other wives
and Miles learns some sign language
Ruby gets into Berklee and says goodbye to her family as Gertie drives her away
She stops and runs back to share a group hug with her family
and She signs goodbye as the car drives away