Based on a true story, My Sister's Keeper stars Kathy Bates as Christine, who since childhood has suffered from a debilitating mental illness. Spending most of her life in and out of various institutions, Christine has long yearned for independence, but is unable to wrest free of her controlling mother, Helen (Lynn Redgrave). Upon Helen's death, her other daughter, Judy (Elizabeth Perkins), a successful, self-absorbed art director who has deliberately distanced herself from her family, is appointed trustee of the troubled Christine. The rest of the film chronicles Judy's frustrated efforts to balance her sister's needs with her own, and Christine's ongoing ambition to stand on her own two feet.