Eight-year-old Garnet’s mother died unexpectedly while giving birth to him, so he grows up eating his morning breakfast of milk and cereal amid the tabletop clutter of his father Ed’s empty beer bottles.

Ed (Callum Keith Rennie) goes through the motions of living. Still saddened and filled with rage over his wife’s death, he is distant and rarely speaks, least of all to his children. Flower (Jane McGregor), a pretty, warm-hearted 16-year-old, has assumed the mothering role, but the demands of caring for her brother have begun to weigh upon her.

Garnet (Colin Roberts), a quiet, inquisitive child, is most contented at Flower’s side. He spends much of his time alone – feeding popsicles to cats, eating dirt, collecting worms, keenly observing ants on the carpet, and listening to the puzzling sounds that come from behind the door of his father’s room.

The sudden news of Flower’s pregnancy splits the family apart and she decides to pack up and leave home. Ed, trying to bond with his son, buys a BB gun as a birthday gift, but this gesture only pushes the troubled Garnet further toward the edge. Left to his own devices, Garnet begins to unravel, growing aberrant and violent. Soon, Ed must decide whether to face this new suffering that his years of silence have sown.