As a poor, white family fights the sale of its farm, a dark secret has caused TJ, the youngest member, to speak only in movie quotes. An unexpected visit from the town’s new, black sheriff brings the family’s problems to a head. After a murder is exposed, the family fights among itself for someone to take the blame. Once all the cards are on the table, the sheriff and Granny Mason, the matriarch of the family, formulate a plan that could be mutually beneficial. After the sheriff arrests Granny Mason and takes her to jail, TJ and his mother try to figure out their future.

The location, in what is still a dry county as of 2024, is real (and largely unchanged from the time of the play in the 1980s). The house and the mosquitoes swarming outside are real. And the story, while fabricated, is a tribute to my actual roots. As the title states, life is “not for children” (and neither are many movies).