In director Daniel Petrie's sequel to the smash hit COCOON, the retirees who chose to leave earth to live forever return home for a temporary visit with their loved ones while their alien escorts attempt to rescue a cocoon dislodged by a pesky oceanographer (Courteney Cox Arquette). Don Ameche is back as Art Selwyn, with his friends Ben Luckett (Wilford Brimley) and Joe Finley (Hume Cronyn) and their wives, Bess (Gwen Verdon), Mary (Maureen Stapleton), and Alma (Jessica Tandy). They rediscover the value of human emotion and the fragility of their own lives as they visit with their old friends and remember what it's like to live on earth. As the group of friends reconsider what life would be like if they returned permanently, they shop, party, and make some miraculous discoveries about the future of their relationships. Before they decide whether to stay on Earth or return to space, they must help their alien escort Kitty (Tahnee Welch) rescue an alien cocoon from the hands of the government, with the help of her old friend Jack Bonner (Steve Guttenberg). Once again the elderly friends must debate whether to stay or to go and consider whether it is better to die surrounded by the people one loves or live forever, separated from family and friends.