The film begins as Karen Powell (Diane Lane) goes into Childbirth during a Halloween party and is rushed to the hospital by her husband, Brian (Brian Kerwin), and their friends. Although the delivery is successful, the baby is extremely Premature birth, born after only ten weeks of pregnancy. Strangely, the infant seems to be a normal, healthy, full-term baby. After examinations and tests, the infant, now named Jack, is found to have an exaggerated form of Werner syndrome. Dr. Benfante (Allan Rich) and Dr. Lin (Keone Young) diagnose a very rare autosomal recessive disorder. Their prognosis is that Jack will develop and age at a rate four times as fast as an average child, rendering him "sick as frick" as Dr. Lin explains colloquially.