A tangled triangle. In the rural South of the early 20th century, Miss Amelia is the town eccentric, selling corn liquor and dispensing medicine. She takes in her half-sister's son, a diminutive crook-back named Lymon. He suggests they open a cafe in the downstairs of her large house. Marvin Macy gets out of prison and returns to town to marry Amelia. They marry, but she won't let him sleep with her; first he pleads, then he gets angry. Eventually, Amelia and Marvin stage a no-holds-barred fight in the cafe. Lymon's complicated response to Marvin and to Cousin Amelia figures in the resolution.

The movie was made for the US cable network and supposedly there will be no chance to see it, for instance, in German theaters or TV. It is based on a classic novel by Carson McCullers. The plot centers around Frankie (Anna Paquin), a twelve year old girl growing up without a mother and with her father not being able to comprehend too much of her problems. The only person trying to understand her is the colored cook Bernice Sadie Brown (Alfre Woodard). While Frankie does not really know what she wants and expects for her life, she definitely knows what she does not want: To stay in that kitchen in that small town with that boring life. Thus, as her brother marries, it is her final decision to go with him and his wife to find a better life. Unfortunately, the two newly-married do not find it a good idea to take Frankie with them...