A son tells a series of stories, most of them about his father and stepfather. As the son describes a robbery that took place at his house in high school and his experiences with his father, a former Jehovah's Witness and current alcoholic, he begins to recall details from his childhood.

Though numerous social workers try to step in, a co-dependent mother and son bounce from city to city, in search of a place where they can be together at all times.

The impact of an absent father emerges in the gruesome stories of a young daughter as her alcoholic mother listens and reflects on the struggles of raising her alone.

After a tumultuous and difficult upbringing, a woman contemplates whether or not she should give up her newborn child for adoption.

Thirteen-year-old Angelle gets into a car accident when her drunken father begs her to drive home in his stead. Later, she must take the witness stand in court and decide her family's future with her testimony.

After a local child goes missing, a mother watches her own child with caution and examines her relationship with the mother of the missing child.

A single father overcome with grief from his wife's death attempts to find solace through media attention, but consequently becomes less and less aware of the needs of his son.

A stay-at-home dad with a wife who works in Manhattan attempts to find a sense of control by tenderly disciplining his young son after he puts himself in danger.

As she begins to feel that her boyfriend is trying to create reasons for her to leave him, a woman tries to understand his difficult past as a child in the American foster care system.

In a small town in Minnesota, a man's ex-wife returns to him, homeless and in request for help, after abandoning him and their son more than a decade ago.