Laura Chant, 16, lives with her mother and four-year-old brother Jacko in a poor new suburb on the edge of a partially demolished Christchurch, New Zealand. Laura is drawn into a supernatural battle with an ancient spirit who attacks Jacko and slowly drains the life out of him as the spirit becomes ever younger. Laura discovers her true identity and the supernatural ability within her, and must harness it to save her brother's life.

Liam is nineteen, fresh out of high school, and enjoying a life of parties and pills. He lives with his grandmother. He keeps her at an arm’s length, and so, when she has a sudden stroke, he ignores her call, and doesn’t find out until he reads a text message sent from Wellington Hospital. He rushes to the hospital, in the middle of the night, drunk and hopped up on cheap stimulants. He is greeted by a closed door, and a nurse who tells him he has to wait to see his grandma. Thus, Liam spends a night and a morning in the hospital, contemplating his decisions, while befriending a young boy who is waiting for news of his mother. A social-realist drama, Boxes is a story about regret, relationships, and the widespread existence of small tragedies.