Adele (Kate Winslet) has been a recluse for several years for understandable reasons. Her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith), about to enter grade seven, is the man of the house but acknowledges as hard as he tries he can not provide his mother everything she needs. His father lives in the same town with his new family - his secretary, her son and their daughter.
On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin), a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and is later revealed to be an escaped convict. The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.
