A feuding father and son search for solutions to their problems at a forgotten Hawaiian cemetery with the help of a wise, old gardener. But the old man is not all he appears to be.

SYNOPSIS:

In the beautiful setting of tropical Hawaii, there's trouble brewing. Single father Doug Wetteland has his hands full with his teenage son, Dylan. With wife Bonnie across the ocean recovering from her stressful marriage to Doug, Dylan slides further and further into trouble, an unsupervised teen. Dylan can't relate to his ex-military dad who works two menial jobs to pay the bills, and Doug can't muster any natural affection for his own kid. Fate has it in store for the two Wettelands to meet Sebastian Donahoe, an aged Hawaiian caretaker of an old, forgotten cemetery called Pathos Garden. The old salt has years of wisdom to dispense, and his stories of the dead and gone buried at the ignored graveyard seem to attract troubled souls who need sage advice during hard times. Dylan and Doug at first resist the messages wrapped up in Sebastian's tales of woe, but before long they accept the lesson of carpe diem, and each hot-tempered listener tries to let his wise words break up the hard ground of their hearts. Doug strikes up an unlikely friendship with another Sebastian devotee, Nancy Capeluto. A single mother going through a difficult custody battle, she also has a tempering effect on Doug's tough-love mentality, and before long the vulnerable woman is pursuing the aloof man. Doug tries to reciprocate her affections, but with Dylan in trouble with drugs, the police, and neighborhood thugs, he has little attention to give her. Dylan discovers a pile of letters from Bonnie in the garage, addressed to him. In a rage, he goes on a drug-fueled rampage on his motorcycle and after a brief stint behind bars absconds to a nearby church and orphanage where he finds refuge. While there, he discovers that his own father was an orphan. Days later, he emerges from hiding and attends a New Years concert with his best friend, Matt. A tragic accident there kills Nancy and critically injures Dylan. In the hospital at Dylan's bedside, Doug suspects Sebastian had something to do with Dylan's strange behavior. In his own rage, he rushes to Pathos Garden where, under the light of a full moon, Doug finds Sebastian's old, weathered headstone hidden beneath the ivy. The soil behind him metamorphs into the shape of the caretaker, and the two men face off. Sebastian reveals himself as the guardian of souls buried at Pathos Garden, intent on preserving the memories of the deceased. He warns Doug that his son's life hangs in the balance. Doug returns to the hospital and calls Bonnie. He finds a letter in Dylan's bag disclosing his ancestry as a Donahoe. Nancy is buried at Pathos Garden, and replaces Sebastian as the new corporeal ghost.

PATHOS GARDEN