The mystery of coma has intrigued people for decades. But even today, little is understood about injured brains and their ability to heal. This film follows a year in the lives of four patients at JFK Medical Center’s Center for Head Injuries--one of the top institutions for studying and rehabilitating brain-injury victims--as they emerge from their comas into a persistent vegetative state, a minimally conscious state, or something beyond. Director Liz Garbus charts each patient's progress and details the efforts made on their behalf by doctors, therapists and, most poignantly, families and friends whose optimism for their loved ones' recovery is put to the test.