When their father dies unexpectedly, estranged siblings Russell, Jane (AKA Chainsaw) and their adopted brother, Alex, come home to Los Angeles to tend to his remains. Resentment and frustrations bubble up among the siblings as they strive to deal with their loss and with each other. Russell denies that his siblings knew their dad as well as they claim they did, since they were never there for him. Meanwhile Jane's pursuit of the perfect goodbye grows frantic, as she overcompensates for her brothers' lack of concern about where to scatter the ashes. And Alex, who still struggles with his identity within the family, just wants to get it all over with and move on with his life. The Sawtelle children's attempts to cope manifest in varied ways: binge drinking one night, picking a fight at a baby shower the next, and eventually sending them on a misguided roadtrip to seek out a favorite mini-golf course they recall from their childhood. Dead Dad is in turns poignant, funny, and awkward. The film's three leads vividly portray the wildly different emotions encompassed by grief, and reveal the uneasy but deep-rooted affection the Sawtelle siblings share.