 The stormy relationship of a young teenage boy with his troubled older brother is told in an extended flashback segment bookended by what happens when the two meet again 15 years later. Edward (Nick Stahl) is a young teen living in a family the father abandoned years before and where the mother (Susan Dey) has become a Christian fundamentalist and courts a self-righteous school principal (Sam Elliot) . In this setting, Edward tries to come to grips with his feelings towards the brother he both loves and fears, while struggling to protect his family and others from his brother s wrath.