After hydraulic fracturing uncovers a rich oil field in North Dakota, a small conservative town is tested as hordes of unemployed men chasing the “American Dream” pour into its borders. Desperate men, often running from their past, find compassion and refuge in the form of a local pastor. Providing his church and even his own home as shelter to the visitors, he exposes himself, and by extension the town, to unfamiliar pressures that test the true limits of the commandment “Love Thy Neighbor.” The more responsibility he shoulders, the more everything threatens to come crumbling down. With unfettered access to the citizens of Williston, documentarian Jesse Moss crafts a smoldering film about dualities in this provocative modern-day parable that challenges the very fabric of our society.

-Jeff Bowers

Directed by

Jesse Moss