Why Stop Now 2012

Eli Bloom is a young piano prodigy who works as a supermarket clerk while chasing a big dream at a prestigious conservatory. The night before his audition, he parties with friends and ends up embarrassing himself in front of his longtime crush, Chloe, setting a shaky tone for what lies ahead.

The morning after, Eli faces a loaded set of responsibilities. He must drive his mother, Penny, to rehab for her drug problems, and his younger sister, Nicole, to school. At Nicole’s classroom, her teacher, Lisa, voices a troubling issue: a sock-puppet friend has been insulting students. Eli promises to handle it, but his plans derail when Penny discovers rehab isn’t available to her due to lack of insurance.

At the rehab center, a nurse suggests Penny should go out, get high, and return with a dirty urine sample to gain entry. Desperate, Penny persuades Eli to visit her drug dealer, Sprinkles, for cocaine. On the way, Eli becomes the translator between Sprinkles and his dealer, Eduardo, and the situation grows tense. The encounter with Eduardo happens at a Puerto Rican restaurant, where a heated exchange leaves Eli with a hurt right hand—an injury that jeopardizes his audition.

In a tense car ride, Eli inadvertently swallows Penny’s oxycodone pills, complicating the already fragile audition scenario. When he arrives at the conservatory, he runs into Chloe and a group of American Revolutionary War reenactors—misidentified by Sprinkles as Civil War reenactors—and Chloe helps him prepare. He begins to perform, but his damaged hand and the effects of the pills prevent him from finishing the piece.

Outside the auditorium, Sprinkles reveals a trophy he earned in the past, and the group—Eli, Penny, and Black—heads to Nicole’s location. They drop Nicole off with Penny’s sister, Trish, who resents Penny for her past choices and for nearly ruining Christmas. Eli persuades Trish to watch Nicole for a while while he and the others go off with their “colleagues from the supermarket.”

Back at the Puerto Rican restaurant, a party is underway. Sprinkles and Black stock up on drugs, while Eduardo dances with Penny. The group shares tequila; Sprinkles consoles Eli about his musical potential and urges him to pursue the dream. Sprinkles also gives Eli the cocaine Penny needs. When Eli urges Penny to take it, she refuses, insisting she no longer needs rehab. He lashes out, calling her a liar, and storms away.

A confrontation with the reenactors leads Eli to confess his feelings to Chloe. A phone call from Penny pulls him to Trish’s house, where he finds Nicole hidden in the bathroom as Trish tries to keep Penny away. Eli scolds Trish, makes clear that Nicole won’t return home while Penny’s addiction persists, and arranges for Trish to care for Nicole while Penny seeks help.

With Penny back at the rehab clinic and under supervision, Eli stays vigilant as she eventually uses cocaine again. Penny apologizes, reveals she wants Eli to pursue his conservatory dreams, and warns that addiction runs in his blood and he could end up in rehab too. Then she leaves to check in, while Eli watches, torn between love, responsibility, and ambition.

Returning to the reenactment area, Eli reconnects with Chloe, and his piano teacher informs him that the judges want him back for another audition the next day. Chloe hands him a hat and a character name to adopt for the reenactment, signaling the start of a deeper connection between them. The following day, Eli delivers a remarkable performance at the audition, overcoming his hand injury and the earlier chaos to stay on the path toward his dream.