Set in 1955 in the small town of Northfork, Montana, this is the story of a dying 9-year-old orphan, Irwin (Farnes) watched over by the town’s priest (Nolte), who dreams of getting adopted, possibly by a group of wandering eccentrics (whom Irwin thinks might be something more than human), even as the townfolk are forced to leave their homes as a newly-built dam is expected to flood it out completely.