The play, set in the 1940s, tells the story of a woman, Carrie Watts, who wants to return home to the small town where she grew up, but is stopped from leaving Houston by her daughter-in-law and an overprotective son. Mrs. Watts is determined to return to her childhood home and eventually boards a bus to a town near her home. Her son and daughter in-law track her down, but with the help of the local sheriff who takes pity on her yearning to visit her home, Carrie Watts does get The Trip to Bountiful. Geraldine Page won an Oscar for Best Actress in the 1985 film.