When his fiercely self-reliant mother (Lili Taylor) dies unexpectedly, 11-year-old Atticus (astonishing newcomer Silas Yelich) flees into the Catskills forest. As he wanders in a daze, foraging for food and shelter, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur. When Atticus encounters Carter, a scruffy, pot-smoking drifter who lives out of his car, he latches on. The two form a wary alliance, but as their dependence upon each other grows, neither is quite sure he is making the right decision.