Bleak stars McLennan as Anna O'Brien, an adult screw-up who moves back to the family home after her life falls apart. There she realises that her family's lives have all also turned to the shit. Her father, John, has been demoted to a retail 'floor' staff position at an electrical chain store, which has left him quietly nursing regret, shame and a series of mild heart attacks. Anna's bored ex-beauty queen mother, Noni, is dealing with the drop in her family's socio-economic status by slipping into a tasteful 'brut and benzo' fog. Upstairs, hyperventilating in a wardrobe, is Anna's anxiety-riddled 17-year-old brother, Michael. Hell, even the family dog looks like he could do with a stiff drink.