When a teenage girl’s chase of Hollywood dreams leads her into the world of body brokers, she must fight to survive abuse and loss in the unforgiving Appalachian wilderness.

SYNOPSIS:

Koko stumbles upon a torn fragment of the Gospel of John while fleeing patrolling EPA agents. She reads it to her ailing Shwanee mother, who dies soon after. Poor and desperate, she turns to Hands of Mercy, a sham charity run by Kenny for her mother’s funeral.

Kenny, nearly twenty years older, is drawn to the girl’s quiet, steady nature. Her dream of stardom reminds him of his own faded acting ambitions, and he decides to lure her out of her small world to pursue that dream. He coaxes her to join him in consoling grieving families under the guise of acting lessons to win her trust, and introduces her to a sleazy local TV producer to find her a gig. He rapes her before signing the contract, forcing her to cling to Kenny all the more, seeing him as a shield against darker predators.

His sulky nature eventually wins her over, gradually drawing her into his deceitful world of drinking and gambling. Believing she is pursuing her dream, Koko follows his guidance, living in a fragile hope—until she accidentally discovers the grim truth that her mother’s body has been dismembered for profit. Devastated by Kenny’s betrayal, she leaves him, but he tracks her down, feigning remorse over her mother’s death and spinning lies to regain her trust. Vulnerable, Koko returns, only to be drawn deeper into his deceitful world.

Soon, an unexpected encounter changes the course of her life. Left alone while Kenny gambles, Koko encounters Walton, a young traveling performer, whose presence begins to unravel Kenny’s tenuous hold over her. She falls for the kind, eccentric entertainer and plans to escape with him. When she packs to leave the next morning, Walton has vanished, leaving her shattered and seething with anger. She rejects Kenny’s advances, only to be caught in his jealous rage, suffering both emotional and physical abuse.

In the days that follow, Koko drifts through a haze of grief and despair, nearly erasing Walton from her thoughts, until a storm brings them together again by chance. While helping him pull his car from a ditch, Walton is killed, apparently as a result of Kenny’s actions. Crushed by his death, Koko sinks into oblivion. Fearing she might implicate him, Kenny lashes out and leaves her battered at a crossroads in the dead of winter.

Koko shivers in the freezing wildlands, nearly collapsing when a group of pilgrims stumbles upon her. One of them tends to her while the others pray, reading from the Gospel of John. Koko eventually joins them on their path. When the road forks, she breaks away, following her mother’s advice toward her ancestral land.

Flames consume Hands of Mercy, and Kenny watches as his unscrupulous boss, Dr. Rathburn, perishes in the fire. Gripped by despair, he returns to Koko’s hometown, haunted by the consequences of his actions.