Set against the rugged backdrop of South Dakota’s Badlands, the film stars real-life cowboy Brady Jandreau as Brady Blackburn, a rising rodeo talent recovering from a severe head injury that required a metal plate to be surgically inserted into his skull.
Told his racing days are over, Brady struggles with a profound identity crisis as his sense of purpose and masculinity are tied directly to the cowboy way of life. Rather than casting professional actors, Zhao populates the film with Jandreau’s actual family and friends (including his father Tim and sister Lilly) all playing slightly fictionalised versions of themselves.
The result is a patient, grounded, and emotionally vulnerable study of a man trying to redefine himself when the only thing he knows is taken away.