ETV

The Landises are a typical American family: about the only thing they have in common is a last name. Cattle farmer dad, Stephen, lives in the midwest, and lawyer mom, Angela, lives in L.A., along with their daughter, Dulcie—a teenager who is spinning out of control. When overworked, brittle Angela Landis can no longer handle the rebellious, self-destructive actions of their teenaged daughter, Dulcie, she surrenders her to a summer with her estranged father, Stephen. An angry teen who dedicates herself to offending almost everyone, Dulcie hardly knows her father. Angela’s arrival with Dulcie awkwardly coincides with Stephen and his girlfriend, Leah, and her daughter, Roxie, moving in together. Angela leaves her spiteful, unforgiving daughter to them. The small farm community and its rhythms are unfamiliar and provincial to the city-raised Dulcie, who finds no act too petty, no meanness too small, if it gets her some attention and marks her as different from these quiet, friendly people. But as the summer passes, she eases into the gentler cadences of this other life. As her rage and desperation slip away, Dulcie develops friendship with Roxie, gets to know Stephen, and gets to know herself. When sweet, trusting Roxie gets pregnant, it is Dulcie who takes the fall. Blamed for her influence, Dulcie is sent packing back to Angela. It is only when Roxie’s pregnancy takes a terrible, life-threatening turn that both Dulcie and Angela are forced to return to Stephen and his farm. As Angela and Stephen finally make peace with their past and with who they have become, Dulcie, too, steps away from her self-destructive ways to face who she really is. When Roxie’s pregnancy ends in tragedy, it is Dulcie’s own coming of age that provides the ballast to help them move on.