What Frankie does not know is who his real father is, as Lizzie constantly tries with the help of her mother (Mary Riggans) to keep the secret alive through the made up sailor who provides Frankie with fatherly comfort.  The film opens with Frankie and Lizzie preparing for a move to a Glasgow.  In Glasgow, Frankie gets into trouble with a kid called Ricky (Sean Brown), who first tries to pick on him for being deaf, but Frankie is way too smart for a bully such as Ricky.  However, Ricky continues to pester him and reveals that Accra is coming to town.  This leaves Frankie slightly confused, as he does not understand why his father would not have told him.  Ricky tries to capitalize on his confusion by making a bet that his father is not coming to Glasgow.

It is with much agony and pain that the mother tries to find a way to save the day for Frankie, as she knows about the bet and how it would make him feel on his upcoming birthday as well.  Nonetheless, Lizzie comes up with a clever solution to hire a man to pretend to be Frankie's father, which would save Frankie's face and make him very happy.  Meanwhile, Frankie's real father's family has located them, and also desire to see Frankie.  This puts Lizzie under a very stressful situation, as she cannot run due to Frankie's pretend father's arrival while trying to hide the truth for him.

Initially Dear Frankie seems like a melodramatic story, but through Auerbach's attention to details and the minimal in each scene he raises the film far above average.  The success rests completely within simplicity where the appearance and action of the characters reveals far more than just a presence.  Every single character comes with words, but also actions consistent to their character.  Auerbach brings the audience’s attention to the actions of the characters and not the words.  Furthermore, Frankie's deafness provides an analogy that suggests that what one see is more important than what one hears.  In the scene where Lizzie visits the real father the audience can also see his actions, see him speak for himself, and see why Lizzie left him in the first place.

The many symbols within the film that come into play such as the letters, ship, deafness, and several others trigger reflexively thoughts that help driving the story in the right direction.  In addition, one cannot forget to mention the cast’s wonderful performances, as they brought out the necessary elements of human interaction and affection.  Together these two are incorporated through clever scene framing that implement the mise-en-scene with a simplistic, yet inspiring intentions to provide a comprehensive view of a mother's zealousness to offer her son nurturing and affectionate care.

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