After her father’s violent death, Native American teenager Margo Crane flees down Michigan’s Stark River in search of her estranged mother. On the way, she encounters allies, enemies, danger, and the beauty of nature, all while coming to grips with her past and her own identity. A Midwestern Gothic coming-of-age fable set along the riverbanks, Chicago musician-filmmaker Haroula Rose’s debut feature is an evocative marriage of Winter’s Bone and Huckleberry Finn.

Jenny (Lynn Chen, Saving Face, Go Back To China), a Los Angeles mom, leaves her family for a blogger convention in Vegas, and accidentally chooses “pool” on her rideshare app, placing her in a car full of strangers including struggling activist Kara (Dreama Walker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Gran Torino), heartbroken talent agent Sean (Jonathan Lipnicki, The Resident, Jerry Maguire) on a quest to find Dawn (Taryn Manning, Orange is the New Black, Hustle and Flow), and their hipster/anarchist/shaman driver, Marc (Jordan Carlos, First Wives Club, Broad City). Personalities clash, vulnerabilities unwind, and bonds form as they each find their own personal Paradise. Full of humor, heart, pathos and a psilocybin drug trip in Death Valley, Jentis’ script is a relatable millennial road trip rom-com perfect for summer.

The village of L’Espérance is perched between the mountains and the great river. Its inhabitants include young people – who don’t have much of a future – as well as many widows and old men. The village continues to be haunted by the tragic death of 13 miners. One day, a stranger arrives. The young man, at once charming and mysterious, has an immediate effect upon the village. The longer he stays in the village, the stronger blow the winds of desire. The village’s prevailing melancholy gives way to love and happiness. However, not everyone is pleased by the arrival of the stranger, who becomes more and more inquisitive about the tragedy of the old mine. What are his real motives? Is he really who he claims to be? As passion and doubt collide, the entire village is transformed by events which come crashing down like waves against the high cliffs.