Big info about Welcome to the Rileys

Doug Riley and his wife Lois have been living a half life since their daughter Emily was killed eight years ago. Doug has coped by having an affair with Vivian, a waitress. Lois has struggled, harbouring a secret and devastating sense of guilt for her daughters death. She has withdrawn into herself and hides away from the outside world, relying on hairdressers who make house calls, her sister, Harriet, and the local pastor.

When Vivian dies, Doug is lost. On a business trip to Baton Rouge he finds himself at a crossroads. And in a strip club. A 16 year old lap dancer Mallory (Kristen Stewart) offers him extras in a private room. He turns her down but goes home to her run down apartment and makes his own proposition. He offers to pay her $100 a day if he can stay for a while, get his head together. No sex. No strings. Mallory isnt used to getting money for nothing, but whatever..
Doug rings Lois and tells her he isnt coming home. He and Mallory settle into a certain kind of domesticity although Mallory wandering around naked and offering sex are a little off-putting! Lois manages to reach her car and start driving, headed south.

Back in Louisiana, Doug tidies Mallorys apartment and then sets about trying to clean up her life. Shes an underage hooker after all. When Lois finally arrives to find her husband living with a foul-mouthed young hooker, Lois is, predictably, horrified. But, like Doug before her, she is taken with Mallorys similarities to Emily. Lois moves in. And the three of them form an unusual family unit. But Mallory soon bridles at the attempts to mend her wicked ways. Shes not ready to be anyones surrogate daughter just yet. Sparks fly.

After she is beaten up and hospitalised by a client, Doug and Lois rush to Mallorys bedside. They are asked what their relationship is to the girl. Only family are allowed in after all. Lois hesitates. Then declares that she and Doug are her parents.

Doug and Lois are finally re-united. Lois admits to Doug how their daughter died and he finally understands why she has been so consumed by guilt. The weight of the last few years are finally lifted from her shoulders and life seems like it is coming back together. But Mallory isnt about to complete the pretty picture just yet. Shes a teenager after all.


summary about the movie = one big spoiler for Welcome to the Rileys