But five years later that belief is shattered when they return to the island with their playful young son JASON. Michael’s boat is caught in the grips of a terrifying squall. The boat holed and burning, and Michael trapped below decks, Dawn can save only her son. Dawn’s grief is amplified when she realizes that Jason, who has witnessed the tragedy, is deeply traumatized.

Back in Boston, Jason – who can no longer talk – is diagnosed with Traumatic Mutism. Though exhausted and overwhelmed, Dawn works courageously through a mountain of treatments with specialist DOCTOR MORRISON to find a cure for his debilitating illness. But her obsession comes at a price: Dawn is haunted by flashbacks of the accident; at work she is under increasing pressure to perform. When a final treatment fails to help Jason, Dawn’s faith is again shattered. She is forced to return with him to the small Irish fishing port where Michael grew up. But she is warned by Morrison that if Jason experiences another trauma he could descend into Catatonia and be lost to her forever.

In the beautiful West Cork fishing village, Dawn and Jason stay with MARGARET, Michael’s mother, who tries to ease their pain by asking them to participate in a Day of Remembrance for those lost at sea. But Dawn learns from CAROL, an irritating self-righteous woman, that the Day focuses on the traditional belief that the dead – including Michael – continue to surround them with love. Dawn insults the local VILLAGERS by belittling their belief, stating that their loved ones are gone forever. Jason – who desperately wants to believe that his father is still alive – runs from Dawn’s outburst.

Dawn finds Jason on the local pier. But her concern quickly transforms to astonishment. Nearby, the Dolphin floats in the still waters of the harbor. Jason is mesmerized by its appearance, and Dawn wonders at Jason’s compelling connection with the gentle mammal.

Determined to help him, Dawn works with Jason and the mammal. But her hope is extinguished when local fisherman JACKIE, fearful that the Dolphin will pose a threat to his livelihood, bullies Dawn into promising that she will never work with the Dolphin again. Seeing her family’s distress, Margaret suggests to Dawn that they secretly work with the Dolphin in a nearby hidden cove.

There, Dawn takes Jason swimming with the Dolphin and his connection with it deepens. But when JOAN – a member of the Remembrance Day committee – discovers them, Dawn is forced to abandon the non-traditional therapy, which only incenses Jason.

That night, Dawn sleeps restlessly in the grips of yet another nightmare. In her sleep she senses a loving presence and is released from her terror. And we finally see: Michael’s apparition, his eternal love and mission to help his family finally revealed to the audience. But not to Dawn.

The next morning, comforted by a love which she does not yet understand, Dawn decides to take Jason back to the cove to visit the Dolphin. This time Carol sees them. Informing Jackie, the fisherman confronts Dawn, promising to catch the Dolphin, and when he does, to kill it.

As Jackie and other local FISHERMEN search for the Dolphin, Jason loses all hope. Suspecting that the Dolphin is a vessel of his father’s love, and wanting desperately to see the Dolphin again, he is compelled to whisper his fantastic suspicions to Carol’s five-year-old daughter LYDIA. Lydia innocently tells Dawn that Jason is talking. Shocked, and learning that the Dolphin is again in the harbor, Dawn is convinced that if Jason can swim with it one more time he will speak again.

Jackie discovers Dawn and Jason swimming with the Dolphin. Incensed, he carries out his promise and shoots it. Re-traumatized, Jason withdraws into life-threatening Catatonia. Now without hope, Dawn plans to return to Boston with her son. But upon discovering the grievously wounded Dolphin, she witnesses the miracle of its healing. At the same time, Jason mysteriously disappears. Distraught, she turns to Margaret, and learns of the Legend of Solas Mor. The tale tells the fantastical story of how drowning sailors were saved from death by transforming into Dolphins, their love living on forever. Upon hearing the Legend, her belief again shaken, Dawn is convinced she knows where Jason is.

Returning to the island of Solas Mor, Dawn searches the desolate coastline. Finding nothing she is shattered. But then she hears the song of Dolphins and is led again to the secret lagoon. There she discovers Jason. Having found his father, and fully healed, Jason can talk again.  And Dawn discovers that Michael has been transformed into the loving being of a Dolphin, just as the Legend foretells.

The next day, on Remembrance Day, Dawn considers her future. She has nothing in Boston to go back to. She knows that she and Jason are only happy when they are deeply connected with Michael. And she wants more than the local belief of unseen love. Much, much more.

Making her decision, Dawn and Jason return again to Solas Mor. Together they make a final leap of faith and at last rejoin Michael, finding with him a mystical love that will last forever.