Parable of the Prodigal

The Carter family has lived for countless generations in the same rural Mississippi town hours out from Jackson. Their situation is marred by death: Mr. Carter's sister Emma had killed herself in heartbreak many years ago and later his wife had suffered a miscarriage. Now they live with their nine-year-old daughter Sophia but Mrs. Carter would never recover from the past. Though she is inconsolable Mr. Carter attempts to save his neighbor Herbert from the same emotional ruin as he struggles with the guilt of Emma's death.