Reginald Wright, a person of color, is a film critic, husband, and father. He is taking his family on holiday to a waterpark in the Poconos. He wanted to go to a national park and his wife Ladette wanted to go to Disney World, so this was a compromise.  They are driving on the highway from New York. He has fallen out of love with his wife and has strong, progressive opinions that he feels she gave up in her middle age and motherhood.  Reginald is having a midlife crisis and feels as if he is letting his younger self down. He thinks that at least his son, Thurgood, will enjoy the water park. The family argues on the way to the water park. The car is tense. Reginald is especially short with his son and wife. They pass an accident and his wife lies to his son and says that everyone will be saved when someone is clearly dead. This makes Reginald angry because he thinks his son is coddled.  A car with a MAGA bumper sticker cuts them off. This makes Reginald even angrier. He speeds up and rolls the window down screaming at the people. Ladette urges him to slow down. The police pull him over. Ladette takes Reginald’s phone to film the police’s activity in case it gets violent. Thurgood becomes distraught in the back, asking if something is going to happen. The entire scene enrages Reginald. He wants his phone back. The officer approaches the car and is overly friendly. He asks where they are headed and issues Reginald a warning and does not ask for his license or registration, which is surprising to Reginald. Thurgood shouts expeliarmus at the officer and the officer tells him to play Wizard World at the waterpark. They leave and head on towards the water park.  On the way there, Ladette asks who Ronit is. Reginald explains that Ronit is his TA for one of the classes he teaches at NYU. She has called Reginald seventeen times. He drives on. They turn on the radio and it is a newscast about a school shooting in Florida. Reginald wonders why Ronit is calling him so much when he told her not to call over breaks.  They arrive at the lodge. Reginald waits in line to check in. He looks for other people of color while calling back Ronit. Ronit answers and says that she is pregnant and having an abortion on Thursday. She will not wait for Reginald to come back to have the abortion. She says he is on a "bad-man list" which has been circulating. She hangs up. This whole interaction bothers Reginald. He does not know why she does not consider having the baby.  Families everywhere are fighting. A lady yells to Reginald that it is his turn. He makes a smart remark to her. She has a bunch of kids with her. Reginald checks in and goes back to his room. Throughout the trip, Reginald frequently thinks that he will never be coming back to this place. He is dissatisfied with the food and the games and the noise. He plays the interactive wizard game with his son but it seems to not be working correctly. On the second day, while Ladette is at the spa, Reginald tries to play the game again with his son. The game involves collecting runes from around the lodge but in the correct sequence. The system is malfunctioning. They are looking for a healing rune. Reginald feels sick. Thurgood says that the healing rune will make his dad feel better.  They go downstairs to the marketplace to see the ‘wand master’ who tells them that the problem in their quest lies within them and not in the system. Thurgood starts to cry. Reginald swears and gives the guy money for more of a hint. The man says they need to wake up the sleeping wizard in order to proceed with the game.  Reginald wants to show Thurgood a movie. Thurgood says Reginald only wants to do what he likes. They go back to the room and Ladette tells Reginald to stop being so bitter and hard on their son. Ladette explains that Thurgood thinks he can heal Reginald. Reginald explains they are just playing a game. Ladette asks about the TA. Reginald says she is dealing with a family death. That night, Reginald has a nightmare that he is at the waterpark during a shooting. The shooter is Reginald himself. Ladette, Reginald, and Thurgood are all woken up by a sound. There is a loud banging noise coming from upstairs. Reginald goes to investigate. He knocks on the door. The woman from earlier in the lobby answers. Her kids are jumping down from the bunk beds. The woman is rude and calls for a man named Sean, who is terribly drunk, to address Reginald. The man is bowlegged and only wearing checkered boxers. He has a long beard and a handlebar mustache. He has tattoos as well. He is mean to his wife and then rude to Reginald who asks him if they could be a bit quieter. A fight ensues and Sean punches Reginald in the face.  The man follows Reginald into the hall and his demeanor changes. He becomes nicer to Reginald and wants to help him. He apologizes. Reginald is sort of antagonistic. The man explains that he was in the army and came back and married his wife. He says that Regindal reminds him of his Dominican friend in the army who wanted to be a preacher. The man killed himself. Reginald feels bad for Sean, who is trying to make amends with him. Reginald thinks Sean's life is depressing. The conversation becomes more argumentative as the man wants Reginald to come over and drink and play video games but Reginald declines. The drunken man assumes this is because Reginald thinks he is better than him, and that he thinks Sean will make a lousy dad. Eventually, Reginald snaps and says that he is better than him, and then Sean beats him up. Sean says he wasn’t looking for a fight. Reginald says he was and Sean slumps off to his room.  Reginald somehow gets back to his room. His son wakes him up, saying he found the sleeping wizard and can heal him. It is dark in the room. The son pulls the curtains open to the balcony. A man’s legs in checkerboard boxers are dangling. He has hung himself from the above balcony. Reginald breaks down and cries, thinking it is his fault that Sean committed suicide. Thurgood continues to try and wake up the sleeping wizard. Reginald realizes that if he can overlook his bitterness he can help his son stay innocent. As Ladette said, Thurgood is only trying to save his dad. Reginald hugs his son and tells him that he did find the healing rune.