Synopsis
Elvis is an unlicensed mortician in his family’s funeral home, a once-splendid American Gothic in rural Texas. His sense of family obligation and love for his eccentric father keep him from following his dreams.
Anabelle is a small-town beauty queen being groomed for the big time by her pushy, show-biz mother. All her decisions are made for her – she just has to make sure she fits the part.
Their two lives are worlds apart, but those worlds collide when Anabelle, in a moment of triumph, collapses and dies on a beauty pageant catwalk – and ends up on Elvis’s embalming table. As he is about to go to work on a dark and stormy night, Elvis magically revives Anabelle with an impulsive, innocent kiss.
News of the miraculous recovery sparks a media frenzy, but despite her mother’s efforts to capitalize on all the attention, Anabelle finds that she’s changed. Worn down by her mother and the media hype, and haunted by visions of her uncanny awakening, Anabelle is drawn back to the funeral home.
There, with the reluctant help of Elvis and the enthusiastic support of his father Charlie, Anabelle finds refuge and begins to find herself. She and Elvis gradually start to connect, but her past is closing in, along with her mother, the police and the relentless news hounds.
That sends Elvis and Anabelle on a mad dash to the Texas Coast, where they discover a sense of freedom that neither of them had ever known, and where they soon discover their true feelings for one another.
But the world is close behind, and soon the young lovers are torn apart by tragic events that leave each of them alone to question their lives, their choices, and their love. In the end both Elvis and Anabelle must face their own demons before they are able to realize that for every tragedy there’s a miracle waiting to happen.