When a postman in Trenton, New Jersey succumbs to tetanus, his fellow townspeople learn that he’d spent decades stealing their mail, leading to a town-wide hatred of the dead man.

When their son returns back from boarding school, his Viennese father and French mother argue over what’s best for their son, who feels hopelessly different from all of the American teenagers in New York City. Unexpectedly, the argument reaches a deadly conclusion.