New Deal Road

Boise City, Oklahoma, height of the dustbowl. Failed wheat farmer HELEN LEWIS (35) and her son WILLY (10) are packing to reunite with Helen’s husband who is in California starting a new life for the family.  The sheriff unexpectedly shows up with African American NOBLE HICKS (40). Noble is the local blacksmith whom Helen has refused to pay for work he’s performed for her. When the sheriff threatens Helen with jail time for non-payment, she confesses she doesn’t have the money.  Noble suggests in leu of payment, Helen give him a ride to California where he has urgent family business. Helen reluctantly agrees. Noble is soon questioning his decision to accept the deal when he realizes that not only is Helen an unabashed bigot, but that she is also prone to peculiar and sometimes unpredictable behavior.  This behavior becomes ever more unsettling for Noble who is haunted by ghosts from his past. Some of these demons date back to childhood run-ins with Klansmen, others are from his time as a combat soldier in WWI. With young Willy as the group’s stabilizing force, the trio embark on an odyssey across five states in which they are forced to navigate their own troublesome dynamic fueled in part by Helen’s mental instabilities and bigotry, the theft and ultimate recovery of their vehicle and belongings, a treacherous border crossing and being stalked by a pair of ruthless brothers intent on putting an end to them all.  Along the way, the trio slowly develop an unlikely bond based on trust, understanding and compassion for one another. Little do they know how much their shared experience has prepared them for the unexpected turn of events that await them all in California.